AN: Hello everyone this is my first story so please tell me what you think. I want to improve as a writer so please if you think there is anything I can do to that end please let me know. The main character of this story is going to be a healer and as a result is going to have and make use of a lot of medical knowledge. I am not a doctor so please tell me if I get a medical fact wrong so that I can correct it, this goes for any other factual errors. I am not going to be strictly following TES lore I'll going to change it up a bit to make things more interesting or make more sense. CW: I will not pull any punches when describing combat expect blood and guts. With that out of a way enjoy the story.

Chapter 1. Cripples orphans and widows

2nd of First seed 4E 196

The man sighed in relief as the pain faded. White gold light radiated over his sprained ankle, knitting his torn ligament back together .

"Mitis you're a gift from the divines" he said in a gravelly voice.

the girl's hands hovered over his injury. She gave him a nervous smile as she opened her eyes and let the magic fade. She stood up from the tiled mosaic floor of the marbled courtyard brushing off the dirt on her dress. Mitis was young, only 16. She had the tan skin and dark hair of a native of Cyrodiil . She was taller than most people. Her fingers were thin and dexterous. Her hands and arms were littered with small white burn scars, a memento from her time in an orphanage. Her clothes were simple, She wore a bright green sleeveless dress that covered the top of her sturdy leather boots. Four pouches, a six inch utility knife and a waterskin hung from a leather belt around her waist . Her long black hair hung down between her shoulder blades. Her soft brown eyes were fixed firmly on her feet.

"Th-thank you Gardener Viridis." She stuttered.

The middle aged Breton man was well muscled, his once pale skin was tanned from decades working in the sun, his hands were calloused rough and dirty, his short salt and pepper hair was wild and unkempt, he had a bushy beard that he had let grow down to his collarbone, he wore a dark wool sleeveless tunic and shorts. Sweat shone on his brow as he sat propped under a red and white striped awning a few feet from where he had fallen off his ladder. The gardener let out another sigh, dejected this time "damn leg, can't even climb a ladder without near killin' miself, damn elves and their damn arrows." "You could just ask someone for help with the tall bushes" Mitis suggested nervously.

"I'm not an invalid girl!" Viridis snapped, then seeing Mitis shrink back his expression softened "ah look at me about to bite the girl who just done me a good turn" Mitis wrung her hands and kept her eyes on the floor. Viridus stood up and tested his ankle, He nodded satisfied, "good as new. Well girl, how can I thank you?." "i-if you c-can spare a f-few se-septems th-that would h-help." She quickly glanced up and gesticulated wildly "Only if you can spare them though don't feel pressured if you can't-" "it's alright Mitis I know you and Agnis need the money, and besides it's only fair" Viridis interrupted her. He reached into his pocket and produced five gold coins. He pressed the coins into her palm and said "sorry, but that's all I've got." She smiled brightly and said "thank you gardener Viridis this is more than enough." He sighed "Right best get back to it and thanks again." Mitis nodded and smiled "just try not to fall off the ladder again." "Aye girl I'll do that."

Mitis turned and slowly walked across the courtyard towards the marble archway into the manor proper. The tiled floor depicted Ilend Vonius storming through an Oblivion Gate. Mitis's mind turned toward her family's situation. Her adoptive mother, Agnis, ran a small alchemy shop and the two room apartment doubled as their home. The shop was located in the scar, the neighborhood closest to the breach in Kvatch's walls that the Elves had stormed through over twenty years ago. Agnis ran the shop and in the afternoon Mitis helped her. In the morning Mitis worked as a maid for house Vonius. Between the two of them they usually scraped together enough that they never went hungry and were kept out of the rain. However usually doesn't mean always and Sun's Dawn had been a struggle. At the rate things were going Mitis and Agnes wouldn't have enough to pay this month's rent. Their neighbors wouldn't let them get evicted, but it was better to avoid placing an extra burden on them. So Mitis would ask lady Nemorosum Vonius for extra work.

Mitis made her way through the corridors of the manor. Green and yellow carpets muffled her footsteps. On her left were walls made of polished granite. At regular intervals alcoves were carved into the thick stone. Most held sturdy wooden doors leading into bedrooms and closets. A few recesses held busts of long dead members of house Vonius. The stern marble faces glared out at Mitis, their cold eyes boring into her back. She should have gotten used to it after two years working at the manor but their icy stares still gave her goosebumps.

On Mitis's right the bright noon sun shone through wide windows. Their poor quality glass warped the view of the street outside, turning neighboring buildings and hustling people into indistinct splotches of color. Twelve feet Above her head the bare stone ceiling was held up by arches. Each arch had the hourglass symbol of Akatosh carved into its apex.

Mitis deliberately slowed her pace, dreading the upcoming meeting. The dame of house Vonius scared Mitis. Nemorosum was usually unfeeling as a corpse, but prone to violent mood swings, she could go from icy calm to spitting rage in a heartbeat. Mitis had never seen the dame smile and never heard her laugh. Mitis knew that the dame had suffered badly as a result of the great war; Her sons had died trying in vain on the walls of Kvatch, her husband had fallen in the infamous March of Thirst, her sister had been killed in the sack of The Imperial City and her brother had been struck into the Nibin river. All that was left of the once great house Vonius was a manor in the heart of a ruined city and one half mad old woman.

After too short a time, the manor was not large, she came to the passage leading toward Nemorosum's study. Unlike the rest of the manor this passage was narrow, just wide enough for one person to move comfortably. Mitis paused before the imposing wooden door of Nemorosum's study. On the door was painted the symbol of house Vonius, a white sword cleaving a black tower from top to bottom on a field of green. The only sounds were the pounding of Mitis's heart and her rapid shallow breathing. Mitis inhaled, counted to three and exhaled. With an effort of will she forced herself to grip the knocker.

She forced her face into a blank mask and knocked three times. The three dull thunks reverberated down the corridor. Before the echoes faded a command was barked . "Come" Mitis didn't hesitate she pushed the door aside and stepped into the room. The first thing Mitis always noticed when entering Nemorosum's study was the cold. Mitis's breath misted and she had to make an effort to stop her teeth from chattering. She suspected that there were frost runes carved into the walls to keep the room cool in the hot dry summers of south western Cyrodiil. Mitis didn't know how Nemorosum could stand to keep them active all the time though. The windowless room was lit only by two candles on Nemorosum's large lacquered oak desk. The dame was seated in a high backed oak chair with green cushions examining a large scroll and occasionally making adjustments to its contents with a fine hawk feather quill. Mitis couldn't see much of what was written on the scroll from where she stood, but she thought it was a shipping manifest

Nemorosum finished with the scroll, rolled it up, set it to the side, folded her pale thin fingers on her desk and turned her hard blue eyes toward Mitis. Nemorosum was a small woman the top of her head only came to the middle of Mitis's chest, yet her glare made Mitis feel tiny. Mitis couldn't bring herself to meet Nemorosum's gaze so she fixed her eyes on the dame's desk and with great effort spoke in a clear steady voice. "My lady, I would like to request extra work." Nemorosum cocked a white eyebrow, Mitis knew her well enough to understand the unspoken question. "I would like enough extra work for twenty more septems this week, if my lady has it available."Nemorosum barely seemed to blink as she responded in a monotone. "The girl will begin her duties at midnight for the next five days starting tonight". "Thank you, my lady." Mitis replied not bothering to disguise the relief in her voice. "Now go," Nemorosum said, taking another scroll from the pile on her desk. Mitis Bowed low, turned on her heel and tried not to run out of the room.

She closed the door carefully, making sure it didn't slam shut. Thank the nine that it was time to go home. She turned back towards the manor's courtyard, her steps quick. The warm sun shining through the manor's windows lifted her mood, her breath a smile broke out on her face. It was a beautiful day and she was going to enjoy it.

Mitis stepped out into the manor's courtyard and took a deep breath of fresh air. Viridis had made the courtyard bright and cheerful. In each of the four corners was a rosebush red, yellow, blue and purple. There were two white marble fountains hugging the courtyard's walls. White marble wolf's heads delivered clean drinking water from the city's aqueducts. Mitis splashed some of it on her face, the water was chilled nearly to ice by a frost enchantment on the pipes. She grabbed a bucket from beside the fountain and filled it along with her water skin. Then left the manor though it's wrought iron gate.

Just outside the gate were two guards, Renald and Titus. The two men sat on wooden chairs under an awning intensely studying a gladstone board * set up on a wooden box. They wore sandals, leather pteruges** a short sleeved mail tunic, a rounded steel helmet and a green and yellow striped tabard emblazoned with the cleft tower of house Vonius. a truncheon, a long skinny dagger were sheathed were hanging from their belts and their halberds were propped against the wall.

* gladstone: fantasy checkers

**Pteruges: roman battle skirt.

Renald's carefree brown eyes lit up. "Hello Mitis'' he said cheerfully. "H-Hello Renald" Mitis looked at her feet and blushed. "I brought you and Titus some water" she said, setting down her bucket and turning to Titus "Hello Titus, how is Faldus?" Mitis asked. "Oh the little one's doing just fine." Faldus was Titus's first born son . Agnes had been the midwife to when the babe was born and Mitis had assisted with a bit of restoration magic. "I'm glad to hear it." Titus nodded "Have either of you noticed any signs of trouble today?" Mitis asked them. Renald leaned back in his seat and replied "nope the only danger today is dying of boredom", "Aye" Titus agreed. Mitis nodded "alright well I better head home then have a good day."

As Mitis was turning to leave Titus kicked Renald in the shin causing the younger man to jolt. "You've wanted to do it for weeks, now do it" Titus said, glaring at the young man. Renald stood and nervously cleared his throat "ah, right, Mitis would it be alright if I came by after my shift tomorrow? I could bring a ham from the market for you and Agnes, we could all have dinner together? Only if Agnes is up for it of course." Mitis stood for a moment, her mind flipping between joy and fear before finally settling on disappointment. She wouldn't be able to take Renald up on his offer this week. "I'm sorry Renald, I'm busy this week. I needed to get extra work at the manor. Please ask again next week though." As Mitis spoke Renald tried and mostly succeeded in keeping his own disappointment from showing. "Alright, next week then." Mitis smiled and nodded then began to stroll away.

Mitis was walking uphill toward the city's center and encountered few people as she passed through the wide cobbled streets of the Silk quarter. Most were indoors sheltering from the noon sun, but she passed a few guards who leaned or sat under awnings at the entrances to mansions. She encountered more people on Blue Street where a handful of shops sold luxuries to those who could afford them. More guards kept an eye on the expensive commodities, there was also a servant of house Casa haggling with a merchant over a box of ice. When She Turned the corner off of blue street into the God's Quarter, Opulence gave way to ruin.

The Aldmeri Dominion had wanted to punish the city for it's defiance so they had burned the God's quarter to the ground. Nothing had been done to repair the damage; the streets were still lined with the burned out husks of what had once been buildings and in places the streets were partially blocked by rubble. Mitis was alone but for a few ghosts as she hurried through the mass grave that was the city's center. She didn't like disturbing the dead, but going around the God's Quarter would have added an hour to her walk home. The ghosts were harmless, most just wandered in confusion, Some wept or searched for slain loved ones, a few were lucid enough to call out morose greetings as Mitis passed. She kept her head down and murmured prayers to Arkay, hoping that these lost souls would be able to find peace. Eventually she crested the hill at the city's center and paused for a moment to gaze upon the ruined tomb that was all that was left of Kavtch's famous cathedral. The night of screams was twenty years ago and the scars had still not healed.

Mitis's pace quickened as she started the second half of her journey, now going downhill and with the scar in sight she was eager to leave the sorrows of the past behind. Mitis reached the edge of the haunted ruins of The God's Quarter and entered the cornucopia. The silence and stillness of a mass grave quickly gave way to the noise and chaos of one of the busiest districts in the city.

The cornucopia was where most of the city's shopkeepers and artisans plied their trade. Despite the recent sack Kvatch was still a major city along the gold road. Trade caravans travelers and imperial soldiers still spent an absurd amount of coin as they stopped in the city and The Cornucopia was meant to service , bread, meat, fruits, vegetables, clothes, potions, perfumes and tools could all be bought in the Cornucopia.

As Mitis got closer to Butcher's street ,the heart of the cornucopia, the crowds grew thick and the streets came alive with a vibrant rainbow of dyed cloth. All was noise as hundreds of people tried to make themselves heard. Bright awnings shielded perspiring merchants who's gaudy togas fell over them in avalanches of color as each one tried to attract the fickle attentions of customers. Porters bustled this way and that with packs, baskets and sacks stuffed to bursting with fire wood, water skins, flour and meat. Prospective buyers were jostled about as they browsed and haggled with stubborn shopkeepers. Hungry urchins darted through the crowds hoping to beg or steal lunch while avoiding the gaze of the roving guard patrols.

Mitis wove through the confusion of Men, Mer, Khajiit and Argonians with practiced ease. Her nose was filled with the smells of fresh baked bread, sizzling meat, wood smoke and sweat. The heat of the crowd was oppressive, the air was thick as tar. Mitis fervently thanked all the gods that live animals weren't allowed in the city.

After Mitis had turned down Butcher's street she noticed one man sitting under an awning, his white tunic was soaked through with sweat, his bald head leaned back against a wooden post and his eyes were screwed shut. Mitis went over to him and knelt by his side. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and pulled her water skin off her belt offering it to him. He took it, drank greedily and nodded his thanks before handing it back.

"I'm trained in healing, may I examine you?" She shouted over the din, he nodded again. Mitis felt his put two fingers on his wrist and felt his forehead. His pulse was weak and rapid, his skin was cool to the touch despite the heat and was covered in gooseflesh. He didn't seem confused, his skin wasn't bright red and was still moist so he wasn't in danger. "You'll be alright, but you need to go home and rest. Do you want me to help you get there?" She shouted, the man shook his head no. "You also need to drink more water. Would you like some more of mine?" She continued offering the water skin once more, at this the man nodded and took it, drinking greedily once again, then he corked it and handed it back to her. He got to his feet, gave Mitis a quick smile and another nod then walked away.

Mitis got up and resumed her journey home turning down flour street. As she walked the crowds thinned and the dedicated shops gave way to apartment complexes with shops in their bottom floors. Slowly these grew more dilapidated and run down and the evidence of the city's ruin began to show itself once again. Buildings were abandoned or partially collapsed, some walls were scorched black with spell fire. She was in the scar now, she was almost home. She turned onto grass street, her boots thumping on the cobbles faster and faster as she could almost taste the soft bread that Agnes had baked the night before.

Grass street was a short wide side street that ran between the main thoroughfares of flour street and milk street. The people were hard and lean and their clothes, though brightly colored, were ragged. The street was residential; it had once been lined by large three story apartment blocks, some brick and some wood, but all of it's wooden structures had been burned to the ground during the sack and a few brick buildings had collapsed. Over the years the ruins had been scavenged for firewood and building materials leaving gaps between the remaining apartment blocks, this gave Grass Street the appearance of a set of bad teeth. Most of the surviving buildings had not gotten through the elvish onslaught unscathed; many had partially collapsed or had their crumbling crudely patched or reinforced with timber, in one case a building had a large canvas sail lashed to its exposed support beams in place of a roof.

Despite the ruined buildings and ragged clothes the street was cheerful and safe. There was not a single pane of glass on the whole street, but most windowsills held flowers growing in wooden buckets, the buildings while old and decrepit were kept clean and although Grass Street hadn't seen a guard patrol in years three locals, Tullia, Perfide and Arkus, standing in a conspicuous group, visibly armed with daggers and cudgels served the same purpose. Mitis greeted them with a smile and a hello which they returned.

Mitis knew everyone on Grass Street and they knew her the stress of the morning was melted away by warm greetings from familiar faces; there were the twins Diana and Lavatio sat in their door frame while sheets boiled in a cauldron they paused from their gossip to give Mitis a cheerful wave and complement her on her appearance. Holus the grocer sat outside his shop reading a book to he gave Mitis a nod then went back to his reading. Nupta sat next to her napping husband Vetus; she was hemming a pair of trousers for one of her grandchildren. The elderly couple were sitting just inside the door to their family's apartment and Nupta looked up from her sewing to wish Mitis a good day. The smell of fresh baked bread wafted from Panem's bakery.

Unlike the overflowing slums of the imperial city the scar was not a pit of crushing misery, rampant crime and festering illness. Kavtch's population still hadn't recovered from the sack, as a result people could afford trust. A small neighborhood watch kept the street safe and an agreement to aid those residents who were going through hard times prevented evictions. Several people ran small shops out of their apartments meant to cater to the residents of the scar.

Finally Mitis reached the door to Drops & Drams, Agnes's Alchemy shop. The shop was in the left corner of the ground floor of a two story brick apartment building, the only undamaged building on the street. The sign hanging above the shop's door was emblazoned with the shop's name and it's logo, an alembic with red liquid dripping from it's spout. Mitis paused and inhaled; her nose was filled with the sweet aroma of flowers. It was good to be home.