It was long overdue. Four months. Four fucking months. Yeah, sure, I'm writing my bachelor thesis, but seriously... Guys, let's make something clear. If I won't update before the end of the summer, I will feel disappointed if I won't see any Dark Brotherhood assassins on my doorstep.
Ribbitfroggy - Well, it took almost two months since your comment... even though I was almost finished with this chapter at the time.
Mmcc - Heh, where do you think I took that line from? I am a great fan of Warband, I'm on my second playthrough even despite how long it takes to actually conquer entire Calradia and how repetitive the battles become after a while. I have great hopes for Bannerlord.
ChaoticChocoCake - I certainly do feel pride whenever I see reviews such as yours. : )
Coldman9 - For now Ted remains separated from the Nerevarine, but it won't be that way for long. He simply doesn't have any way to insert himself into the main quest too early - there would be too many uncomfortable questions he doesn't want or even can't answer. So for now he settles for the next best thing, helping Azirra from behind the courtain. Furthermore, he would rather avoid bringing too much attention to himself - there are forces in Elder Scrolls universe he knows he would never be able to beat. As such he will never let anyone know the exact limits of his knowledge to keep other players guessing about him with the only exception of game protagonists. As for ALMSIVI, I wouldn't worry all that much about Vivec - he was more than happy to let Nerevarine come to him at their own pace, he strikes me as a person that reacts rather than acts first. Hell, he even is willing to give up godhood just to protect the Morrowind from Dagoth Ur. It's Almalexia that is the biggest danger of the Tribunal - unlike the other two she is desperately trying to expand her dimishing power and Ted being close to the Nerevarine will only make her more suspicious.
Lunar Loon - Gotta keep him on his toes, eh? xD
FluffyDwagy - Ohh boyyy, that is a lot of reviews... Alright, from top to bottom. Rotheimaak hardly needs an armor, as the best armors are made from members of his own species to begin with, so it definitely wouldn't be for that purpose. Yes, that mark on his head is there for a reason, although it's not really all that important in a grand scheme of things. Rotheimaak will probably do his best to not add humans to his diet, dragon instinct or not he still has mostly human mindset. Do not worry about our protagonist becoming human once more - at one point in the future he will find a way to enter human settlements without making everyone run in fear, but he will never be able to physically change form to one of the human races of Tamriel. Let's just say that Jerry the drunk bastard isn't nearly as far away away as Ted hopes. Yes, the story of Rotheimaak will eventually extend to first Oblivion and then Skyrim, if I will manage to keep this up. Although at the speed I'm going recently there might already be TES VI before I'm done with Skyrim. Oh well, at least then you will get even more content. : )
InsidiousAgent - Oh yes, Ted will certainly suffer from the fact that there is a total number of zero women capable of handling his needs in that area. xD For faction quests I actually have more protagonists ready, some even already appeared (remember Sudione from House Hlaalu). Redoran protagonist is off-handedly mentioned in this chapter, the same with Divine Cult member a few chapters ago, the ginger Dunmer from Vivec is the Temple protagonist, the Argonian lady is Morag Thong assassin... With the exception of the Imperial Legion the only one missing is Telvanni protagonist. And for a good reason.
KialDeyung - Years. I'm sorry, but it will certainly take years to get to Skyrim, there's just too much content and I intend to use it as much of it as possible. So yes, the DLCs will happen and they will take form of two sequels after the story of the main game is over, meaning a trilogy for each game (althouh DLC fics, due to having much less content, won't be really all that long).
Ashquinox - If there are pens in Morrowind, I have no idea. There might be, since at least some people must have a printing press in Oblivion (Black Horse Courier, anyone?). As for the explanation... well, while it says what and when, it doesn't say how, so it hardly counts.
Hitler's Mustache - As said in replies above, it will happen assuming I'll stay determined. I already have a wonderful ideas for plot twists in Skyrim, so it would be a shame not to use them.
Pietersielie - I would hardly have any devoted readers without cliffhangers, now would I? xD
With that said, read and have fun, although there isn't much happening in terms of action this time. Also, I STILL didn't find anyone willing to be my Beta Reader, so once again you must bare with my mistakes. I swear, there must be some curse on me that prevents me from finding a good proofreader willing to stick with me for long.
Ted was very shocked by the staggering and completely unforeseen mountain of information that was presented to him by Nibani Maesa. The tribal memory of Urshilaku was one of a kind - as the heart of the Nerevarine cult they still remembered the truths that even Wise Women of other tribes no longer knew. According to her, Rotheimaak was the name of the dragon who unexpectedly appeared out of nowhere near the end of the war against the dwarves. If words of Alandro Sul, one of the closest companions of Nerevarine (and ancestor of Sul-Matuul) were to be trusted, the dragon appeared in a flash of light over the bridge leading to the west entrance to Red Mountain region, right in the middle of an ambush performed by Dwemer forces. While the attack wasn't devastating enough to completely destroy the group, the appearance of a new ally definitely saved quite a lot of tribals - the dragon struck the enemy with a deadly and unknown magic that took the form of a thundering voice, which earned him the nickname that survived the test of time even in other tribes, when the events behind its creation were long forgotten.
It didn't take much time before Rotheimaak (which was indeed how the dragon introduced himself, to Ted's surprise) become a trusted ally of both Ashlanders and Nerevar himself. During the final assault at the citadels of Red Mountain, when almost entirety of dwarven forces was stretched across entire border in the defense against a massive attack from all possible sides, said dragon flew directly into the main fortress of the Dwemer king, a feat accomplished thanks to the head of House Dagoth, who joined the battle on the side of the dwarves so he could betray them in the right moment to make them vulnerable to the attack of his friend from House Indoril. With back entrance left mostly unguarded from aerial attack (and by back entrance they meant the very crater of Red Mountain, leading directly into the chamber in which the enemy was building the Numidium, artificial god, the very object that started the war), Rotheimaak and Nerevar sitting on his back were able to force the Dwemer king into a direct confrontation. It was then, by ways still not understood by anyone, that the entire Dwemer race disappeared without a trace.
"Dragon Break," cut Ted.
"What?" asked Nibani Maesa.
"Oh, sorry for interrupting. That's probably when the Dragon Break occurred, an event that twists the very structure of time... It tends to happen when someone pushes divinity to its limits and I believe that's exactly what the dwarves did on Red Mountain. Most people aren't aware of this particular event, since unlike with the known Breaks there are no chronicles surviving from that era, which would help recognize the Break due to the conflicting records. Mind you, it's just my theory, a GAME THEORY, nothing confirmed. Please, continue."
"Not much else to tell. With Dwemer gone, Nerevar left the man that was going to become Dagoth Ur to guard the Numidium, while he and you left to summon his generals. When you returned with Almalexia, Sotha Sil and Vivec to the fortress, Nerevar was betrayed not once, but twice - first by Dagoth, who in his madness attacked everyone else, and then by Tribunal, who wanted to obtain the powers of a god. You were the one who took severely wounded Nerevar and escaped the Red Mountain to bring your friend to the safety of Alandro Sul's camp. In the end it meant nothing, for Nerevar perished from his wounds inflicted by Tribunal. That's also when you disappeared, also in a flash of light, and promised to return when the reborn Nerevar will walk the lands again."
"I see..." said slowly Ted, even though he couldn't actually make sense of it. The description of the 'original' Rotheimaak was disturbingly matching his own - Nibani Maesa even mentioned that purple splotch on top of his head, which definitely wasn't common amongst dragons.
Could it be that Sheogorath did something to an already existing dragon? It would certainly explain how was he able to put me here despite the daedra not being able to create life... That would mean there already WAS a dragon named Rotheimaak... and now I'm somehow stuck in his body. But then why would Akatosh treat me as if I was a new dragon, why wouldn't he recognize me? He would surely remember one of the few dragons that survived the Dragon War...
"So Urshilaku were the ones who had the body of Nerevar. What happened to it?"
"Nerevar's ashes were taken by Alandro Sul and put to final rest in a shrine of Azura just east of Sadrith Mora. It is also where his spear and your artifact was hidden and your statue created, so that the future generations would remember your part in the events."
"...What artifact?"
"That, sadly, I do not know. For some reason the Wise Woman of that time decided to not tell her student. I know only that it was something you brought with yourself and that it was locked away so that only with the help of Nerevarine you could reclaim it."
Interesting... Looks like there's a completely new quest in my imaginary journal!
"How peculiar. I will have to investigate it... Although it is nice to know that the one that I will accompany on future adventures is someone that I supposedly already know and should be able to get along with. For now, though, I can only wait."
"How long it will be before we should expect Nerevarine?" asked Sul-Matuul.
"No idea. In this case I know only where and who, not when. She might be here today or she might do the smart thing and get a bit stronger first. It's all up to her." Rotheimaak glanced towards the islands marking the beginning of Sheogorad region (guess who it was named after?). Somewhere out there lived a certain troll in a dire need of serious revenge pranking... "I won't be very bored however, there's plenty things to do around here. Meditation, hunting, flying, scaring a certain asshole senseless..."
The time I wasted because the bastard kept telling about dragons in Morrowind... I will show him a dragon in Morrowind!
'Progress of Truth' wasn't a big book, just thick enough to read all of it during her boat ride from Ebonheart to Vivec. Despite its subject being a religious dispute, something that Azirra never really cared much about since gods were less than favourable to her in the past, it was quite interesting due to how forbidden by the Temple the content was. It was no mystery why it was the case - just the part about the Dissident Priests suspecting Tribunal's power might come from the same source as the one Dagoth Ur wielded would be enough for the clergy to send Ordinators after the author. And boy, that rebellious faction sure had a lot to talk about. Most of it were things that everyone knew but few were courageous enough to tell, like the fact that the warriors of the Temple were out of control, not even truly listening to the Archcanon, or that the great deal of priesthood was corrupted. It also seemed they actually were paying attention to Nerevarine prophecies and Azirra was quite certain that they knew even more than they proclaimed in the 'Progress'.
I'm pretty sure Caius will ask me to question them directly sooner or later, thought Azirra as she left the Balmora Guild Hall to which she arrived through teleportation from Vivec. Probably not right away, but he will. They seem to be one of the two major information sources I haven't checked yet, the other being the Nerevarine cult itself... I think I know where I'll be going next.
Azirra wasn't in any rush to report her findings to the Spymaster and neither he wanted to meet with her right away - she shouldn't too often visit his house to avoid bringing attention to either of them. For today she intended to get another lesson from Amiulusus and hopefully came up with some sort of long term training, since the one she received for aiding Argonian Blade agent covered only basics. After that she planned to return to the Mages Guild and ask Ajira who she would suggest as a trainer for a battlemage. For the rest of the day though Azirra intended to do absolutely nothing requiring leaving the hall or maybe even her bed. She had her fill of adventures for this week.
Meeting M'aiq was considered by many to be an important part of any tourist trip to Sheogorad region, a group of islands on the north coast of Vvardenfell. Haema Farseer, a shipmaster that regularly travelled between Khuul, Sadrith Mora, Tel Aruhn and Tel Mora, was one of the few locals that actually found him interesting to talk to. In opinion of most Nords inhabiting the town of Dagon Fel M'aiq, known to everyone as M'aiq the Liar, was just a Sheogorath-touched fool that for some strange reason become some sort of local celebrity just because his lies were so incredibly absurd. The shipmaster, on the other hand, suspected M'aiq was very much sane, but he just liked attention. To earn it, he was ready to speak of most hilarious things there are, so she made a point to exchange a few words every time she passed the little island he was spending his days on (and by that she meant he was sitting there on a lone chair, dressed in expensive clothes and wearing that ridiculous fur helmet that made everyone unable to take him seriously).
"Hello, M'aiq! Will you share some wisdom with me?"
"Of course! What do you wish to know?"
She picked the first thing that she thought of.
"Mudcrabs, you say? Ah, this one have seen a lot of them. But some are more interesting than others. Emperor Crabs are down there, in the ocean. You will see them too if you will swim far enough. As for Mudcrab Merchants, M'aiq only heard of them. They've got all the money. Mudcrabs taking over everything. They already run Pelagiad."
"Are there any other mystical creatures you met recently?"
"There are. I've met a wereshark, but he was afraid of the water... Naked liches too. If you will see them, let M'aiq know. M'aiq wants to make sure to look in the other direction this time. And dragons, of course. They are everywhere! You must fly very high to see most of them, though. The ones near the ground are very hard to see, being invisible."
One moment M'aiq sat there in his chair, spouting the nonsense the way only he could... and the next the chair fell over empty, with no sign of the owner. Haema wasn't sure what happened - she blinked at the wrong time.
"What in the world...?"
Just as she started to convince herself the Khajiit was playing some sort of prank on her, a deep voice sounded from the sky.
"GEEEET DUUUUUNKED OOOOOOON!"
M'aiq fell into the water right next to the ship and did his best to stay on the surface until Haema would help him get on the boat. He would wait for a bit - she was busy gawking at a massive object that was majestically flying away while cacking madly.
The Khajiit, who finally managed to climb onto the deck on his own, lied down, too tired to even stand up.
"Hem, hem... dragons. As M'aiq said, tales for little kittens," stated the liar, still not even lifting his head. "There are no such things as dragons and certainly not in Morrowind. And M'aiq decided to take a swim out of his own free will. Yes. M'aiq likes swimming very much."
It was the night before twenty fifth of Last Seed, her tenth day in the land of Morrowind, when Azirra had another disturbing dream.
He was there again, Sharmat with the face of gold. The one who speaks with silence, who denied the powers of CHIM. And she was here as well, but, much like the last time, she felt something was horribly wrong, although she couldn't tell what.
The figure with golden mask leaned over something, staring at some blurry object on the table, which suddenly appeared here... or perhaps it was always there? They were surrounded by a circle of candles.
He spoke.
"There are many rooms in the house of the Master. Be easy, for from the hands of your enemies I have delivered you." The man... no, the god. The god turned around and walked away to disappear in the darkness.
She looked at the table. There, as clear and sharp as her reflection from a mirror, lied her own body. She was resting with her hands placed on her chest and with no breath in it. With hesitation she walked up and reached with her hand. Fingers of the living and the palm of the dead met.
The cold body drew breath and opened its dark, empty eyes. The corpse rose and its claws shoot towards her neck.
She gasped, suddenly finding herself awake back on her bunk in Mages Guild. The Dunmer wizard, the only male member of Balmora chapter, glanced at her over his alchemy apparatus.
"Bad dreams?" asked Marayn Dren. Judging by the ingredients on his lap, he was trying to brew an antidote to one of the most common poisons. "I advise against speaking with religious locals about it. They seem to think it's a sign of being possessed."
The Khajiit observed with worry as the fluid in the vial he was heating over a burner started to turn orange instead of brown.
"Dully noted. And... I advise against drinking that concoction. Or touching it. Or smelling. Maybe even moving it too fast."
"Very funny. I might not be a master alchemist, but I can..." The potion started bubbling. "Oh dear."
That was the only thing he managed to say before a cloud of tears-inducing gas started to spread all over the room.
"NOOOOOO!" came a scream of Ajira, who happened to be the member with the best sense of smell and thus sensed this spectacular failure despite being in another chamber. "Now Ajira won't be able to sleep here for days! Marayn, you will pay for this one's stay at the inn!"
"...Sorry," mumbled the Dunmer, not looking at Azirra, who was glaring at him through tears.
"Next time leave alchemy to someone who won't poison us all in our beds."
"All I wanted was to learn something new, that's all! I certainly didn't shout at you when you asked for Destruction training."
"One, I paid you with gold. Plenty of it. Two, you not only practiced in the worst possible place, but also failed to ask Ajira for help, even though she's the alchemist of this hall."
"As if this one would train that fool! The last time Ajira tried to teach him how to make healing potion, he melted her alembic!" came the comment from another room.
"...What she said."
"Ugh, whatever."
At least there's some good to this event, thought Azirra as she started to search the chest next to her bed for her set of traveling clothes and chasing Marayn out of the sleeping area. No one will notice I wet my bed... again. Stupid nightmares.
Once most of her morning rituals were complete, Azirra left first the hall and then the city. She did so however not through the south gate, like almost anyone who visited Balmora, but the north one. That particular path didn't really led anywhere important, but it run next to the river that supplied the settlement. As soon as she walked away for a suitable distance, she took off her robe and jumped into the water - that seemed to be the only fast way to get rid of the stink that now followed her thanks to the idiot. There was no way she was going to spend who knows how much septims in the bath house if it was this warm outside. One could even run around in birthday suit and not get cold at all.
A sudden splash put Azirra on alert. At first she was afraid it was a slaughterfish, but no - those little devils lived only in a salty water. Then the source of the racket re-emerged and made her wish it was the greatest scourge of the tourist industry.
Gods damn it! I didn't mean literally that part about running around naked! Azirra watched with dread as some Nord, clad even more scarcely than her (as in, just in his long beard) leaned on the riverside, relaxing in the water.
Where the Oblivion this guy even came from? As far as the first thoughts after a shock go, this one wasn't so bad. Azirra glanced upwards and decided that Nord must have jumped head first from the small cliff above. What is it with people jumping off the cliffs to startle me?
"Mornin'," greeted her the intruder, not even bothering to look in her direction.
Azirra without the word walked out of the river, put on her still slightly stinking robe (she planned to buy a new set of travel clothes anyway) and marched back to the city, doing her best to forget this episode in the long chain of disasters she had to face.
"If Mehra Milo says I must have a copy of 'Progress of Truth,' then I must have one. I assume you won't mind if I borrow it until you finish the next task," said Caius while reading the reports Azirra gave him.
"No problem, I already finished it," informed him the mage.
"Good to know you already have the habit of acquiring information even despite not knowing how it fits in the grand scheme of things. It will serve you well." The Spymaster put the last note on the table and started writing down the most important findings for his own use. "I'll need some time to digest all of this and decide on our next action. You're doing a good work, so I'm promoting you to the Journeyman. With this rank other Blades will offer the training at prices lower than you would find in any guild, so do take advantage of this."
At this Azirra slapped herself in the face.
"I only now realized that was the first place I should ask about this," she explained under Caius' questioning gaze. "I already paid for training in Destruction school of magic and fighting with a spear. And it costed a lot."
Indeed, next to the gear the training was the greatest expense in the lives of adventurers, which is also the reason why most of them doesn't reach retirement - they start with some basic skills from working as a lumberjack, the cheapest set (or maybe just a part of one) of armor the local blacksmith had and their pa's axe and expect to be ready for what the world will throw at them. Azirra had no such delusions - when future victims of bandits and animals were happily losing themselves in the tales of heroes that always survived every encounter, she had to focus on actually surviving on the streets of Kvatch. Furthermore, she had no intentions of becoming a rich adventurer - she preferred to be a living one, so she didn't waste her money at the tavern like most representatives of her profession.
"Spear? Interesting choice for a battlemage. Who are your trainers?"
"Amiulusus from Fighters Guild and Marayn Dren from Mages Guild."
Imperial nodded slowly.
"I've heard about both of them, though we haven't met in person. Nine-Toes assured me no one else in Fighters Guild on Vvardenfell is as skilled with the spear as your trainer. One of my informants, Fast Eddie, also mentioned Dren is a really good teacher when it comes to combat magic. He used to be a Telvanni, so he knows best."
"'Used to be'?"
"Yes. Fast Eddie, or Edd Theman if you want to be formal, is a former Telvanni wizard who went imperial and joined Mages Guild. Somewhat of an oddity. He lives here, in Balmora. The first person I talk with when I need some info from the east coast. Anyway," Caius opened a drawer and started to search for something inside. "I think you need at least the basics of swordplay, even if you do not intend to rely much on your sword. It's just a waste to have a weapon, but not the knowledge how to use it. Knowledge about daggers is valuable as well, comes up very often in our trade. You also obviously need some knowledge about some silent ways to win a battle before it truly begins, flashy spells are too obvious most of the time."
"Geez, you make it sound as if I should know how to use every single kind of weapon there is. I already depleted most of my reserves on my two trainings and it's not easy to earn two thousands septims."
That was probably the first time she saw Caius shocked.
"Two thousands? What kind of training costs THAT much?"
"I asked them both to teach me everything they know on the subject."
For a few seconds the Spymaster was struggling to find words. In the end he sighed.
"That would explain a lot... In that case take this." Azirra grabbed the pouch her boss tossed at her. "After taking care of your missions without a single hitch you deserve some bonus. There are two hundred drakes inside. Go and treat yourself to a new pair of shoes."
Azirra glanced at her catlike feet.
"It would be a miracle to find boots in such size."
"Just a figure of speech. Anyway, how much money do you have in total?"
"Let me think... Selling the loot from Vivec gave me around five hundred, then three hundred from Ra'Virr for six dwemer coins... I bough a new set of clothes for sixty septims and some ingredients for almost one hundred, so... I guess I have over one and a half thousand, not counting what you just gave me."
"That's... actually not as bad as I thought. You clearly have done some work, hm? Anyway, with your new rank you should be able to convince Rithleen to teach you how use the sword for a really small price. Just out of curiosity, how are you doing with the Guild?"
"Not bad, though I haven't done much since my promotion. My friend Ajira suggested to look for work in Ald'ruhn, since she knows the leader of that hall. I could ask Ranis Athrys for tasks, but... others told me what kind of jobs she gives."
Cosades sat down on his bed and gestured to do the same. Azirra did so and elaborated.
"I've been told Athrys holds a big grudge against Telvanni. Ajira said some people from her family were killed by them and now Athrys does anything she can to strike back at them. From time to time she gives new members looking for work a task of converting some Telvanni wizards to join the Guild. Dren even claimed when he was given such a duty she expected him to kill the mage if he were to refuse."
"...That is troublesome," stated finally Caius. The Spymaster rubbed his chin in puzzlement. "Me and the other agents don't pay much attention to the Mages Guild, so things like that slip by unnoticed. With the Sixth House on the move, the usual disputes between the Houses and the incoming clash between the Thieves Guild and Camonna Tong we can't afford to look on better behaving factions. This however... With one of the highest ranking mages in the province having a vendetta against one of the Houses and Archmage Trebonius being his normal clueless self this problem is only going to grow until it gets blown out of proportions."
For a minute or so two Blades were sitting there in silence, with the younger one awaiting some sort of suggestion or order she usually got in such situations and with the older one deciding on the course of actions. At last Caius slowly nodded.
"As you probably know, Azirra, you are the only Blade I know that is the member of Mages Guild on Vvardenfell. It is your own ground, you must know it well. Find out what might become a danger to the people of Morrowind. Speak with the leader of each hall and discover their opinions on their natural rivals, House Telvanni. The last thing I want right now is another big conflict between imperial and Dunmer factions. Make more friends, make more connections. It's all up to you, in this you are on your own. Will you go to Ald'ruhn first?"
"...I guess so. I did every task that Ajira had, so I suppose it's time to introduce myself to her friend."
"In that case speak with our agent in the city, I think you already met her. I've heard some strange things happened recently there, but I find it hard to believe those rumors... Ask her directly once you are there, she might provide you with an intel." The tone he used and the fact he stood up gave Azirra the signal it was time to depart. She nodded and walked over to the exit.
"Oh, and one more thing," she said turning around. "I could use some excuse to come here from time to time. I was thinking... do you have someone delivering you skooma? Because..."
"...Because if not, then you would be able to play the role of a courier? Actually, that is a pretty good idea. People at the South Wall Cornerclub already know you arrived to the city when you had to deliver something for me. Yes, someone is already bringing skooma for the sake of my cover, Habasi herself. I'm certain she already knew my real job when she started, otherwise she would give the task to some underling. She tried to learn as much as possible, which was just fine since I did the same. With the tension with Camonna she probably wouldn't mind you giving her some more free time. Just expect her to try to investigate you at a later date as well."
"Will do." The Khajiit opened the door and took a step outside.
"Journeyman..." She looked over her shoulder at the Spymaster, who already had the forbidden book on his lap. "Be careful out there. And take your time, no need to rush back unless you learn someone wants to kill an Emperor or something like that. Good luck, Azirra."
She smiled. As far as bosses go, Caius Cosades was just fine. If only he got over his habit of walking around without a shirt... The sight of a sixpack on a fifty years old guy made her feel self conscious about her less than impressive physical condition (may the scarce prison food and lack of exercise be damned).
"Thanks, Caius. Have a nice day."
With a hum of advanced spell Azirra materialized inside the teleportation rune. A female Altmer guild guide standing next to her tilted her head.
"You look familiar, have I seen you before?"
"Definitely. I was here a few days ago," confirmed Azirra while checking the state of her clothes. She was wearing her expensive, official set of robes - just because the leader of this chapter was Ajira's best friend it didn't mean she wouldn't try to look her best. "Although the last time I dropped by for just a few minutes. This is my first proper visit. Last time I saw mostly sand..."
"In that case I think you picked the right day. So far there wasn't a sign of a sandstorm, a rare blessing this close to the Red Mountain." The mage hold out her hand. "I'm Erranil."
"Azirra. So, where can I find Edwinna Elbert?"
The Altmer smiled.
"I think everyone else is in Vivec already, but she's still doing some studying. Just find the table with the biggest mess on it."
"...Alright? Thanks, I guess..."
The Khajiit walked across the corridor and turned right to the stairs. She blinked at two staircases next to each other, both leading on the lower level.
Someone had too much septims in a budget, she finally concluded as she walked down them to the general area. A messy table... Ah. I understand now.
Sure, there were a few tables in the room, some with books scattered on them, but one in particular stood out. It was covered so well with all kinds of manuscripts, Dwemer devices and a literal junk that she couldn't even see the tabletop itself. Right next to that battlefield of science sat a middle-aged Breton woman. Azirra put two and two together and approached her.
"Excuse me?"
The wizard dropped the book she was reading and sent the poor Khajiit a death glare of a century. No, wait. That would be the look that Camonna Tong guy gave her when she fought him in the swamp. The second best death glare of a century then.
"What's so important that you would interrupt my studies? Don't you see I'm busy?"
"I have a letter from Ajira."
The frown didn't turn upside down, but at least it disappeared from Breton's face. She took the offered envelope and glanced at the content.
"Ah, I see... dear Ajira sure has a high opinion of you. Yes, if what she is saying is true, then you would be indeed of tremendous help in my studies." There it is, a smile. Very, very small, but still. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Azirra. It is so hard to find someone who actually joined the Guild to perform magic rather than politics."
"...was that about Ranis Athrys?"
The woman rolled her eyes.
"Well, her too. If only it was JUST about her. Let's leave it at that. So. You want to receive some duties? I'll have you know that the tasks I need done focus mostly on acquiring materials for my research. It doesn't concern me how will you get them as long as it won't bite me back later on. You will receive gold in return, but from time to time I might offer some alternative reward and you pick what you prefer. Sounds good enough?"
"Sure. What do you have for me?"
"In my studies I discovered that the book called 'Chronicles of Nchuleft' might contain useful information. It is a rare dwarven tome. None of the Mages Guild branches have a copy and it is simply essential to my research. Would you find one for me?"
Azirra nodded. A certain Khajiit resurfaced in her memory. A Khajiit who owned a bookstore that had 'rare' in the name.
"Fine for me. I think I even know someone who might have it."
"Good, maybe I will finally make the breakthrough. Now go, I want to finish this chapter before I'll have to join others on the special meeting in Vivec. I swear, if it will turn out it's because Trebonius misplaced the document again..."
And the Breton promptly returned to the book, oblivious to the rest of the world. Azirra shrugged and headed upstairs, to the only exit.
Ald'ruhn was easily the most exotic city Azirra saw with her own eyes. Sure, Vivec was massive and impressive, but while Imperials wouldn't build some massive pyramids (and in the sea, at that), it was merely different rather than strange. Buildings were still buildings. But this? Azirra had no idea what kind of material it was - everything was made of some kind of... carapace? Where did those people even found bugs so big? Even those silt striders seemed too small to provide the Dunmer of Ald'ruhn with their bizarre replacement for bricks. Another strange thing, no windows in the houses - probably drilling a hole through something like that was too much trouble. That and judging by what little she knew about the city most of the time they wouldn't get sunlight inside anyway with those sandstorms.
It was beyond her why anyone would want to live here. Sandstorms? Check. No source of water or food nearby? Check. Cliff racers? Check. Waaay too close to the forbidden zone and the local evil god? Check. Sun hot enough to fry even said god? God damned check. The air was heavy and Azirra was already sweaty under all her fur even though it wasn't even a minute since she left the guild hall. And she just bathed too.
She already hated this town with passion.
Focus, Azirra, focus. First order of business, get yourself lodging and buy something cool to drink. Then you can rant, when sun can no longer treat you like a vampire.
Fortunately for her she didn't really have to search long - just several meters away from the guild hall stood another building, very similar to it... Scratch that, all buildings were similar here, the only noticeable difference was the size. There was also a signboard next to the entrance with the name of the inn on it.
Azirra sweatdropped and not just because of the heat.
"A Rat in the Pot? Seriously? Someone really doesn't want their own tavern to succeed."
"Actually, that's just to make sure people come here for Guild business rather than by accident." She jumped at the unexpected response and turned around to face the second most unpredictable person she knew."Cooking is quite decent in fact, even if most of the time you can't tell what exactly are you eating. Too much spices."
Azirra frowned.
"Dar'shanji, don't surprise me like that. In my line of work it's only a matter of time before I learn to send a fireball at anyone that sneaks up on me." Her gaze wandered over to the very familiar pouch he was holding and her frown increased as he tossed it back at her. "And stop pickpocketing me for fun."
"Only once you learn to keep your money safe, I'm not the only thief around you know. What brings you to this hole full of sand?"
"Guild business."
"That makes two of us then. Erm... Say, are you going to be at the guild hall in about an hour?"
Azirra looked at him with suspicion. Friendly he might be, but a thief is still a thief.
"I don't think so, the guild guide said everyone from this hall will be at... oh." She wasn't impressed. Not at all. "...You're going to steal anything that isn't bolted to the floor, aren't you?"
Dar'shanji gave her a sheepish smile.
"I wouldn't put it quite like that. Aengoth asked only for an enchanted tanto..."
"...which you will take, as well as anything that catches your eye." She shook her head and opened the inn's door. "Whatever, not my problem, I do not have anything there."
Both Khajiits entered the tavern and soon they both sat at one of the tables. Dar'shanji asked for something called 'matze' - it was beyond Azirra why would he drink something this strong at this time of the day. Yes, she asked for alcohol as well, but the stupid publican didn't have anything else to offer.
"So..." Dar'shanji started. "...I said what is my guild business, what's yours?"
"Edwinna wants me to find her a rare book. Nothing special." Azirra looked at him in a strange, expressionless way. The thief seemed nervous and she had a pretty good idea why. "Habasi told you to spy on me?"
"Wha- no, not at all! Why did you..." He stopped his rambling and just confirmed with a sigh. "Yes. Yes she did."
Azirra returned to her drink.
"How did you know?"
"I had a talk with her this morning. I'm taking over the delivery. Caius knows your guild already has plenty of work to do even without having to do leg work to supply some old skooma addict... especially if for some unfathomable reason it's the local boss that does it. You guys really aren't subtle at all."
Dar'shanji chuckled, but it wasn't his normal carefree laugh.
"Old skooma addict? Azirra, please, do not insult my intelligence. I've seen plenty of skooma addicts in my line of work and I can tell that if he's indeed drinking it, then he must have the resistance of an Argonian, not to mention that for a so called recluse that never leaves his house he has plenty of friends in many strange places. Thieves, scouts, smugglers... you. How do you, a beginning mage that came out of nowhere, fit into all of this? I do not owe you anything anymore, so don't expect me to just ignore all of this."
Well, Caius was right, Thieves' Guild is onto me now that I'm not hiding from them that I meet him often. Azirra's small smirk was hidden by her glass as she slowly sipped her cheap wine. At least it's the new recruit that is doing the interrogation rather than Habasi. I would be probably done for in that case.
"What do you expect me to tell you? That I'm a member of some cult that intends to summon Sheogorath with a city's worth of skooma? Perhaps I used to be a smuggler that decided to change her profession before it could put her behind bars? Or maybe back in Cyrodiil Caius was like an uncle to me and now I'm trying to slowly cure his addiction? Whichever it is, I can tell you one thing for sure: it is none of your business."
The thief's mouth dropped and she smiled innocently.
"What? You are rude to me, I am rude to you. Problem?"
Dar'shanji huffed in irritation, gulped down his drink and stood up.
"Do not misunderstand me, Azirra. I like you and maybe we will even become friends, but guild comes first, it always does. If Habasi finds your friend suspicious, then by extension so are you. Breaking into tombs, stealing skulls, talking with dragons... What in Oblivion are you doing?"
She ignored his question. The thief turned around.
"Ugh. I don't even really care and it's clear I would only waste my time. I have a job to do."
"Fine, go then. Have fun stealing from my co-workers," said calmly Azirra, although in fact she was anything but calm. The small scratches her claws made in the glass said that much. The other Khajiit left her to drink alone. "The nerve of that tosspot... First being all buddy buddy and now he acts like this..."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"That about sums up my exact thoughts on the subject," stated Gildan, Ald'ruhn's resident Blade. As it wasn't their first meeting, the Bosmer was quick to share anything of importance that happened in the city since their last meeting, like Redoran council's decision to strike another rogue Telvanni base, which were apparently popping up all over Vvardenfell ever since the changes were applied to the Armistice. The situation was so bad that it could turn into an open war at any time.
All that political crap however paled when compared to the fact that just two days ago a certain dragon gave the locals quite a fright by diving above their city for no apparent reason.
"...a dragon? Seriously?" While Azirra already knew about Rotheimaak's presence, Gildan definitely wouldn't be the first person she would tell. That would be her boss.
So far she did exactly as the unpredictable dragon said and kept the secret of his involvement to herself, as just the thought of telling Cosades that she met a dragon in a freaking tomb made her feel stupid. In fact she suspected that was exactly why he appeared the way he did - all three times he did so while doing something that didn't make a lick of sense. First he dropped a Bosmer out of the sky right in front of her just for fun and that was it, there was nothing more to the encounter. Then he somehow found the Dwemer puzzle that was meant to be somewhere in the ruins (even though the weird rotating entrance to them was not only slightly bigger than his head, but also rotating, meaning he couldn't squeeze past it anyway) and just so happened to guess that she needed it. The third time he was already waiting there before she even entered the tomb. Mentioning even a single of those encounters would have her labelled as one of Sheogorath's faithful.
Azirra had a feeling the old spymaster knew about dragon's appearance at Ald'ruhn even though he only mentioned strange rumors. He must have felt just as uncomfortable about speaking of such nonsense to someone else, even if it was true. And so he remained silent, much like her.
Well, no more. If the clown decided to reveal himself, then there's no point to keep it a secret. Even if Rotheimaak claimed telling Caius about his involvement in her duties was a bad idea, there was simply no good reason to believe him - as a matter of fact his actions were indeed suspicious and should be discussed with the spymaster at this point.
"Yes, a dragon! I'm not joking, an actual dragon flew over the city."
"Alright, if you say so..." Azirra made sure to answer in the way that suggested she didn't quite believe her, just to make it believable. "So this is what Caius meant by 'strange things happening'?"
"Well, yes. Though I must say there's one more problem, one you could help with. A serious one." The Bosmer winced. "We have a corprus beasts' infestation in the city."
...
"As in... the abominations on the service of Dagoth Ur?" asked Azirra with dread. She wasn't going to forget that guard's warning anytime soon.
"Correct. They showed up in the middle of the night at Morvayn Manor. A few people died, including the councilor. We still don't know why they attacked there of all places - as far as I know Remas Morvayn didn't stood out when compared with other councilors except for the fact he hadn't lived at Manor District. Perhaps that was the only reason - his home was the most vulnerable."
"You said 'infestation'. Doesn't that mean those things are still around?"
"They are. The guards attempted to retake the manor, but they didn't get too far, there's just too many of them in there. The Temple used wards to block the entrance and that's it - no one can enter, but the beasts can't leave. It will stay that way until the Ordinators send the striking force. Thing is, from time to time more corprus beasts comes now to the city in order to get to the manor and the townsfolk are getting more frightened every day, even though so far the guards managed to repel all attacks."
"I see..." Suddenly a very bad feeling overcome Azirra. "...Why did you said I could help?"
The other agent refused to look at her, instead preferring to look at the wall. Azirra's heart dropped all the way to her stomach.
"I've learned that the Sixth House spreads it's influence with strange, small statues. I don't know how exactly, which we simply must know if we are to fight against them. A new friend I made in House Redoran, Sanalcea Turealas, informed me that one such statue was seen in the manor shortly before the attack. We need to examine it. We need to get it before Ordinators appear."
The feeling of dread increased rapidly.
"You... you want me to enter the building that the entire guard force of the city failed to take back. Are you mental?"
Gildan obviously wasn't happy about the accusation.
"Ugh. You aren't the one that will get the statue, that would be me. My post, my work. I just need another pair of hands to pull it off. Now listen. I have a really good plan and you won't even have to enter the place, I swear. There's a nice reward with your name on it if you accept."
The Khajiit mage narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"What kind of plan and reward?"
...aaaand cut! A bit of a cliffhanger again, but not really all that bad compared to the previous one, you will live. Right now we are in this strange moment after both Azirra and Rotheimaak inserted themselves into the world of Morrowind, but before they truly start to rock the boat. If you have ideas how to make this stage more interesting, write away. I'm not exactly without ideas myself, but they don't seem all that great to me. M'aiq received unfortunate visit from our dragon troll, who should be the next victim? xD