Tirdas, 3rd of Sun's Dusk 3E 421
Lantrius fell out of his bed, covered in sweat. He got up and looked outside to see it was still night. Gods damn nightmares. He put on his casual outfit, grabbed his sword, and quietly checked on his sister in the other room. Good. She's still asleep. He went out to Cornelius' place and knocked on the door.
"Hey, it's me."
Cornelius opened the door half asleep and rubbing and eye, "What the matter? Nightmares again?"
"Yeah, but this time it was worse."
Cornelius nodded his head, closed the door, and came back out fully clothed. "Let's go outside."
They walked up to the edge of the canal and sat down. "Cyrodiilic Brandy?" Cornelius asked holding up the bottle.
"Don't mind if I do." Lantrius said taking the bottle
Cornelius looked at him worriedly.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked concerned
"Not really. I fell out of the bed sweating like mad." He took a big gulp of the brandy, "I don't know they'll get any better."
Cornelius could do nothing but to try by cheering him up. "You'll be fine. Cause' you're my best friend and a total badass. So, I'm pretty sure you can pull through."
Lantrius smiled, feeling better than he did while waking up. He took one last gulp. "You're my best friend too. Although I can't say very much about being a badass."
Cornelius gave him a slight and friendly shove and they both chuckled. Lantrius got up and said, "I'm not going to keep you all night."
"I'll catch you later then." stood back up as well
"Good night." Lantrius walked home with a happy smile and a clear mind. First, I need to find a place for my necromantic works. Second, create the most powerful staff imaginable. Most of all, no one can find out about it. His happy and friendly smile disappeared.
Once he reached his house, he found his sister reading his diary. "Give that back to me." He quickly walked over to try and snatch it from her. She turned around still reading while keeping her brother's arms and hands out of reach.
"Where did you find that?! I demand to know!"
"I woke up early and went through your stuff." She paused for a moment. "Oh…into elvish women, huh?" she nudged him.
"Shut up. Now hand that over. Please." He said irritated.
Rona rolled her eyes and held out the book.
"What did you get out of it?"
"Hm, let's see. The reason why you left in the first place, you killed a few people, and made a zombie."
"None of that bothers you?"
"Well, of course not. I didn't know those people. Besides, that's all in the past. None if it practically matters anymore. At least that's what I think."
She may be annoying, but she also has a point. My bad doings don't exist anymore. He thought to himself.
"Hey are you alright?" she asked him.
"Wha- yeah. I'm fine. Just sleepy."
"you should sleep while you can! It seems to be getting brighter outside by the minute."
Lantrius went into his room and slumped into the bed. Thinking deeply again, he sighed several times. I need to start small scale. Maybe a table and a few black soul gems, filled and unfilled. After setting up shop, I could dig up some old corpses and experiment on resurrecting them.
Middas, 4th of Sun's Dusk 3E 420
His sister opened the door and brought him some food on a plate. "Good morning! I made you a Scrib-jelly sandwich."
"I'm not hungry for insect guts." he said with his eyes closed.
She put the plate on his stomach. "I know giant bugs aren't the best of food, but I had some on my way here and it wasn't that half bad."
"Ugh." He sat up and scarfed down the food. "Happy now?" he put plate beside him an laid back down on his side facing away from her.
She sat next to him, "I sure am. Now get up and let's go do something interesting."
"All we can do is enjoy the scenery by walking up and down the canal or wander somewhere right outside of the city."
"Those are some lame ideas. How about I come with you on one of your quests for Hlaalu?"
Lantrius sighed, got up, and stretched. "I don't see why not."
They went into the House's Council Manor. Dorvayn gave Lantrius orders to investigate a suspicious male Dunmer that has recently entered the city. If the Individual is hostile in anyway, he has to eliminate him. If friendly, welcome him to the city and leave him be.
"So this is what's going to happen. You will confront him and ask him if he is new around here. Make small talk and ask what he does around town. I'll watch while hidden and help you if needed."
"Got it. Now let's go look for the suspicious guy." She marched off.
They wandered around town for hours searching for their objective. Before they gave up they spotted one Dunmer looking around his surroundings and loitering in a single spot holding a large satchel, for five minutes straight. Before Rona went out, two people walked up to Dunmer and were discreetly handed a small red object. She looked back her brother and he nodded. Lantrius got into position behind a nearby corner to eavesdrop and observe, while Rona confronted the Dunmer. He gave her a disgusted look.
"I saw you hand those small red things to those two guys just now. Can I have one?"
What the hell are you doing?! Lantrius screamed in his head hoping she wouldn't screw up the situation even more.
"Oh, you did?" The Dunmer asked with a cautious tone narrowing his eyes.
"Yup! By the way, are you new around here? I haven't seen you before. Are you a trader of a sort?"
The Dunmer held his hand up to stop her questioning and gave a slight smile, "Say no more. I'll give you one."
"Really?" Rona asked surprised.
"Absolutely." He said nonchalantly and drew a hidden dagger.
"You know I've changed my mind. I think my brother is getting tried of waiting for me." She said while slowly backing up.
"No. No. I insist. This will only take a second." He then began chasing her.
Rona ran as fast as she could back towards Lantrius. He channeled fire magika into his fist and waited for the right moment to strike the Dunmer. Once the enemy ran to where Lantrius could reach him, Lantrius quickly snatched him back into a choke hold and pressed his channeled fist forcefully into the spine; creating constant snapping and searing noises.
Rona stopped and turned, right when she realized she wasn't being chased, and found the man being held by Lantrius. Before relief overcame her she witnessed one of the most horrible thing she has ever seen. The man began screaming as if he were being burned alive. Then his neck began to brighten up into an orange like color. Small flames emerged from his mouth and nose which began to severely burn the face while he clawed at Lantrius' arm. Once the body became limp, Lantrius let it go and watched until the fire died within the corpse. Eventually smoke emerged from the mouth, nose, charred flesh where the fist had been. Lantrius felt a growing satisfaction from this man's death, though his face didn't show. This isn't as bad as I remember it being. I'm starting enjoy this.
Rona walked to her brother mortified . "I'm truly sorry you had to see that Rona." He said giving a small hug to at least calm her down. He was actually honest when he said this. He thought that, someone as young as her, didn't need to see something like this. Not as he did.
"You did what you had too. So it's okay." she told him trying to control her heart rate.
"Good." He let her go and knelled at the corpse searching it. "Now let's see what he was hiding."
He found some gold, jewelry, and several peculiar small red statues in the satchel.
"What the hell are these?" he questioned while inspecting one.
Upon further inspection it was made of stone but had strange red carvings on the head and middle body. Four straight-horns at the head as well as these red dotes in these black holes which resembled eyes. A small triangle sat in the middle of the head right above the "eyes".
Rona observed one as well while trying to ignore the charred face. "I think they're kind of cute."
"Really? It's pretty weird looking and ominous if you ask me."
"Can I keep one?"
"Once we take it back to HQ, we'll see."
"What about the body?"
"Hlaalu will take care of it soon."
Upon returning he revealed the red statue stash to Dorvayn.
"This is not good." Dorvayn said under her breath.
"Come again?" Lantrius asked.
"They are called Ash Statues. I'll be confiscating these now." she said trying to cover up the new finding's seriousness.
"Can I keep at least one?" Rona pleadingly asked
Dorvayn thought about his for a moment. "As you wish." She handed one to Rona. "As a token of appreciation for helping House Hlaalu, thank you. Oh, yes. Kinsman Lantrius…"
"Yes ma'am? Wait…I thought I was a Lawman?"
"Now you are a Kinsman. Congratulations. For your promotion, a special ring will be sent to your home with a bonus of sixty more drakes. As an added bonus for completing the mission, you may keep any spoils of war from the last mission."
"Thank you ma'am." He bowed and Dorvayn walked away carrying the bag full of ash statues away.
The two walked out and went home. When they got back, Lantrius rested his head on the table and Rona began making dinner.
"Wow, what a day!" she said. "A man died tragically, I got a cute looking statue, and you reached the rank of…what was it? Can-man?"
"Kinsman." he sighed correcting her while lifting his head up and laid his spoils onto the table.
"Let's see here: two expensive rings (ruby and emerald), a gold flask-shaped amulet, and two-hundred fifty drakes. Fancy that."
He tried to put on the emerald ring but it was too small while the ruby one was just right. He looked at his sister. I should probably put an armor enchantment or something on the small ring. He threw everything into a bag and tied it to his belt.
"Here's what I made." Rona announced, "Boiled kwama egg and loafs of honeyed bread."
Lantrius took a bite and found it to be quite tasty. Rona saw it in his face. "Glad I made something good for once?" she said hands on hips.
"I'll have to admit that it's actually pretty good and not as horrible as it usually is. Job well done."
After dinner, they both went to bed. Rona fell straight asleep, while Lantrius on the other hand laid awake thinking about today's events. Rona, seeing a man burned alive from the inside out, has made him a little worried. Reaching the rank of Kinsman and finally a full fledged noble in House Hlaalu; not to mention a much nicer income as well. Last was the sensation of his first kill in a while. He now has no care about what happens. Anyone falling by his hand or anyone else's is just fodder; Necromancy material for his experiments. Everyone except for his house, family, and friends of course. He slowly fell asleep finally feeling more relaxed than he did in a long while.