Chapter Six
Training Habasi
Day 2-Balmora 10:30 Am
The sun was out and it was starting to become hot outside. The city was already full of merchants and peasants, and Hlaalu guards were prepared to stop anyone who was attempting to break the law. The law was very much enforced in the lands owned by the empire as well as those owned by the Great Houses. I headed towards the Lucky Lock-up to speak to an old Argonian friend.
The door, like most other doors, was wooden. It was smaller than the regular doors, the architect made a wrong calculation, which made the size of the doorway smaller. Being a Wood Elf I was all right with that for I am shorter than the average human, I would prefer to be called Bosmer instead of Wood Elf. Bosmer is the real name of my people and Wood Elf is the name given to us by the Imperials.
I pushed open the door slowly and hoped that the door would not make a high-pitched noise as it has in the past. . I figured that I would surprise Erisarah. I slowly worked my way down the stairs; the room was almost empty except for Erisarah and another Argonian female.
I was soon behind Erisarah and I was ready to jump on her. I flew through the air and in a second my dagger was to her neck. She jumped in the air and let out a loud scream. "Well, well, well…" She said, "I know who this is, James, and it is not funny." I lowered my dagger and spoke.
"Were you scared?" I let out a light laugh.
"Yes, and if you do that again I swear I will." I cut her off
"You will what? And I am not here to see you, I am here to collect my seven hundred Drakes."
"Oh, your money is all you want. I have it, well indirectly." She slowed down. "You see, my sister has it and she is in Ebonheart."
"Let me get this straight, you gave MY money to your sister, MY money to your… sister… who is in Ebonheart?" I gave out a heavy sigh. "I suppose I have to go and get it for myself. But you owe me now, big time." I quickly walked out of the Lucky Lockup and took a deep breath to try and suppress my anger.
I walked to the other side of town to the South Wall Corner Club, the meeting place of the Balmora Thieves guild. I walked in and there was a strong smell of Skooma and Moonsugar in the air. Skooma and Moonsugar are the illegal drugs that are available from the Black Market in the Empire. There were many people sitting around the round wooden tables that were scattered around the room. It was dark and cloudy with smoke; people were playing gambling games at the tables and drunk Greef, Mortez, and Skooma.
I walked to one of the tables where Grand Heland was seated. "Excuse me! Heland!" I yelled, "I am here for Sugar-Lips Habasi." She raised her hand and pointed her thumb in my direction; I turned around to see a quite small Kahjiit. I greeted her with a fine hello. "Hello little one!" She spoke, "Who are you calling little, Wood Elf?" I shot her a disappointed glance, but I thought that if I train her right she would be the future leader of the Thieves guild.
We had a long day of hard training a head of us. The art of invisibility was not to be underestimated in challenge and peace of mind and body.
First we went to get her some new light armor from the smith in Balmora, of course we weren't going to buy it we were going to steal it. We walked up to the smith's shop and took a good look at it. "We will not go in the front door, I will go in the front door and create a diversion, and you will go in from the top floor and sneak around him and take some Chitin armor." I looked at her and she replied.
"Yes, Habasi understands." And with that she went off to pick the lock and I walked in the front door.
"Hello!" I said as I walked in, "Any new items I should be aware of?" I looked to check if she was in here yet and she wasn't. "Oh yeah" said the smith, "We have heaps of fresh equipment, we got our shipment from Ald'rhun yesterday."
"Well do you have some Bonemold arrows for me then?" I asked in a calm, slow voice; she still wasn't here. "Oh yeah" he replied, "Its over here in this here box." He walked over to a box in the corner. I looked over my shoulder to she that Habasi was taking the Chitin armor and waltzing out the door.
"Oh, save me Azura, it seems I have forgotten my money bag at the house. Thanks anyways kind sir." I walked out to see Habasi checking out the armor she had just picked up.
"That was good, I mean, you must have some experience with stealing before."
"No, I have never done this in my life, I guess I just knew when was the right time to make my move." She replied happily. For the rest of the day we trained, we did exercises and we talked for a great deal of time about what methods to use and not to use. I had a good feeling about Habasi.
Chapter Seven
Brothers Reunite
Day 2- Ebonheart 10:45 Am
I entered the grand fort of Ebonheart and took a good look around; I was now standing in front of the huge statue of a dragon crashing down upon the earth. There were many people moving about the first island's courtyard. I took a good look around, I have heard a lot about this fort but have never really had the time to travel here, the thing that caught my eye was that there were an interesting group of people sitting at the dock. A Wood Elf, an Argonian, two Orcs and two Nords, one of which was a female, the only one of the entire group. A few moments later they all stood and stared off into the horizon, I walked closer to the dock and also looked out to the horizon.
A large ship sat in the distance; it bore the crest of the Duke of Ebonheart so I decided to wait for him. I kept a good twenty feet between the group, of what seemed to be, vagabonds or mercenaries and me.
When the ship arrived the gangplank was dropped and eight Imperial Guards walked off the boat followed by several Dark Elves, they wore extravagant clothing, which portrayed that they were of noble rank. Then the Duke himself walked off the ship, he wore extravagant clothing as well but he also wore a heavy Daedric breastplate, one of the strongest armors in all of Morrowind and Tamriel. The Duke had a hairstyle that has become popular in the Dark Elf community in the past few years; his natural red hair had been spiked up and pushed to the center in the design called a Mohawk. On his finger was a heavy ebony ring that had a purple glow to it, enchanted with a barrier spell.
The Duke stopped to talk to the Nordic man, the Nord looked very serious and when he spoke to the Duke, the Duke let out a laugh and continued to walk off the dock. I quickly walked up to him before his personal guards could get in front of him.
"Excuse me, Duke?" I called to him, "Sorry to bother you sir but I need to find my brother, Caius. Do you know where he is?" The Duke laughed and pointed to a tall building to my left.
"He is in there and you must be, Darin, no?"
"Yes sir, that's me."
"I am very sorry about the passing of your sister, but I can say that we are doing everything we can to find out who did this to her."
"Thank you very much sir, I hope to see you again sometime." He headed to the tall building that the Duke pointed to and everyone continued on their way.
I headed to the tall building that the Duke pointed to. It was a very tall building; it was three stories high. I walked to the door and opened it slowly; I took a quick look around the room only to find it was empty. I walked in and closed the door, which closed with a quiet clicking noise. "Hello?" I said. I could feel the sound of my voice echoing through the rooms of the bottom floor. "I will be there in just a moment," said the voice of woman. In about thirty seconds a brown-haired, 5 foot 7 inch, broad shouldered, good looking Imperial woman walked in the room and stood behind the wooden desk that stood in the middle of the cramped room.
"May I help you sir?" she asked. Her voice was smooth and calming, and then I asked, "Is there a Caius Cascades here?" She smiled and replied.
"Yes he is here, he is upstairs writing a letter the Lord Vivec. And who are you?" I put my hands to my side and said,
"I am Darin Cascades, Caius' brother." She squinted at me and spoke, "Hmm, you do resemble Caius. Go ahead, he is upstairs on the third floor, second door the right." I smiled,
"Thank you very much miss." I replied.
I went towards the stairs that were a long spiral staircase that was made of sturdy wood. It was a good minute before I reached the third floor; the hall was made of stone, much like the rest of the building, and had torches on it ever few feet. I walked in the dimly lighted hall and knocked on the second door on the right.
A man opened the door, he was shorter than I, but he was also much older. He had light-brown hair and was well built much like his younger brother, me. "Hello brother!" he said happily, and then he gave me a hug. "It is good to see you again, Darin."
"It is good to see you again also, Caius." I replied.
"So I assume that Larice gave you my letter."
"Yes he did, and we also ran into some difficulty."
"Oh? Well you can tell me about that later, first tomorrow the Duke is holding a meeting at approximately 5 o'clock pm, and you and I will be there!" he motioned me to come into he room.
It was a homely room, filled with books on shelves, a nice little bed, a small table in the corner, and a fine wooden dresser. The walls were covered with maps and flags and banners. The floor was cold stone, as were the walls and ceiling, it reminded me much of Fort Pelagiad. "Nice place you have made yourself." I said to Caius.
"Yes, yes it is. I have been here for a few months now, I have been very busy writing notes and cracking smuggling cases."
He sat down at the table and spoke, "You may have a look around Ebonheart, that is if you wish to" He looked at me and waited for my answer.
"Yes I think I will, there is a full day ahead of me, might as well become familiar with the people and places here in Ebonheart." I nodded my head "Farewell, for now, brother." And I walked out of the room and into the dim hallway that had a very eerie feeling was about this hall, I have felt it before, I just do not know where.
'Drat! I forgot to ask him about what the Dark Elf said and about our sister' I said to myself, 'Oh well, there will be plenty of time later for asking questions.' I looked around and I squinted because the sun was in my eyes. I had no idea what the Duke was going to talk to my brother and I about, and I hoped that it was going to be good news. I slowly walked across the bridge to the second island, for the next few hours I would explore Ebonheart.
Training Habasi
Day 2-Balmora 10:30 Am
The sun was out and it was starting to become hot outside. The city was already full of merchants and peasants, and Hlaalu guards were prepared to stop anyone who was attempting to break the law. The law was very much enforced in the lands owned by the empire as well as those owned by the Great Houses. I headed towards the Lucky Lock-up to speak to an old Argonian friend.
The door, like most other doors, was wooden. It was smaller than the regular doors, the architect made a wrong calculation, which made the size of the doorway smaller. Being a Wood Elf I was all right with that for I am shorter than the average human, I would prefer to be called Bosmer instead of Wood Elf. Bosmer is the real name of my people and Wood Elf is the name given to us by the Imperials.
I pushed open the door slowly and hoped that the door would not make a high-pitched noise as it has in the past. . I figured that I would surprise Erisarah. I slowly worked my way down the stairs; the room was almost empty except for Erisarah and another Argonian female.
I was soon behind Erisarah and I was ready to jump on her. I flew through the air and in a second my dagger was to her neck. She jumped in the air and let out a loud scream. "Well, well, well…" She said, "I know who this is, James, and it is not funny." I lowered my dagger and spoke.
"Were you scared?" I let out a light laugh.
"Yes, and if you do that again I swear I will." I cut her off
"You will what? And I am not here to see you, I am here to collect my seven hundred Drakes."
"Oh, your money is all you want. I have it, well indirectly." She slowed down. "You see, my sister has it and she is in Ebonheart."
"Let me get this straight, you gave MY money to your sister, MY money to your… sister… who is in Ebonheart?" I gave out a heavy sigh. "I suppose I have to go and get it for myself. But you owe me now, big time." I quickly walked out of the Lucky Lockup and took a deep breath to try and suppress my anger.
I walked to the other side of town to the South Wall Corner Club, the meeting place of the Balmora Thieves guild. I walked in and there was a strong smell of Skooma and Moonsugar in the air. Skooma and Moonsugar are the illegal drugs that are available from the Black Market in the Empire. There were many people sitting around the round wooden tables that were scattered around the room. It was dark and cloudy with smoke; people were playing gambling games at the tables and drunk Greef, Mortez, and Skooma.
I walked to one of the tables where Grand Heland was seated. "Excuse me! Heland!" I yelled, "I am here for Sugar-Lips Habasi." She raised her hand and pointed her thumb in my direction; I turned around to see a quite small Kahjiit. I greeted her with a fine hello. "Hello little one!" She spoke, "Who are you calling little, Wood Elf?" I shot her a disappointed glance, but I thought that if I train her right she would be the future leader of the Thieves guild.
We had a long day of hard training a head of us. The art of invisibility was not to be underestimated in challenge and peace of mind and body.
First we went to get her some new light armor from the smith in Balmora, of course we weren't going to buy it we were going to steal it. We walked up to the smith's shop and took a good look at it. "We will not go in the front door, I will go in the front door and create a diversion, and you will go in from the top floor and sneak around him and take some Chitin armor." I looked at her and she replied.
"Yes, Habasi understands." And with that she went off to pick the lock and I walked in the front door.
"Hello!" I said as I walked in, "Any new items I should be aware of?" I looked to check if she was in here yet and she wasn't. "Oh yeah" said the smith, "We have heaps of fresh equipment, we got our shipment from Ald'rhun yesterday."
"Well do you have some Bonemold arrows for me then?" I asked in a calm, slow voice; she still wasn't here. "Oh yeah" he replied, "Its over here in this here box." He walked over to a box in the corner. I looked over my shoulder to she that Habasi was taking the Chitin armor and waltzing out the door.
"Oh, save me Azura, it seems I have forgotten my money bag at the house. Thanks anyways kind sir." I walked out to see Habasi checking out the armor she had just picked up.
"That was good, I mean, you must have some experience with stealing before."
"No, I have never done this in my life, I guess I just knew when was the right time to make my move." She replied happily. For the rest of the day we trained, we did exercises and we talked for a great deal of time about what methods to use and not to use. I had a good feeling about Habasi.
Chapter Seven
Brothers Reunite
Day 2- Ebonheart 10:45 Am
I entered the grand fort of Ebonheart and took a good look around; I was now standing in front of the huge statue of a dragon crashing down upon the earth. There were many people moving about the first island's courtyard. I took a good look around, I have heard a lot about this fort but have never really had the time to travel here, the thing that caught my eye was that there were an interesting group of people sitting at the dock. A Wood Elf, an Argonian, two Orcs and two Nords, one of which was a female, the only one of the entire group. A few moments later they all stood and stared off into the horizon, I walked closer to the dock and also looked out to the horizon.
A large ship sat in the distance; it bore the crest of the Duke of Ebonheart so I decided to wait for him. I kept a good twenty feet between the group, of what seemed to be, vagabonds or mercenaries and me.
When the ship arrived the gangplank was dropped and eight Imperial Guards walked off the boat followed by several Dark Elves, they wore extravagant clothing, which portrayed that they were of noble rank. Then the Duke himself walked off the ship, he wore extravagant clothing as well but he also wore a heavy Daedric breastplate, one of the strongest armors in all of Morrowind and Tamriel. The Duke had a hairstyle that has become popular in the Dark Elf community in the past few years; his natural red hair had been spiked up and pushed to the center in the design called a Mohawk. On his finger was a heavy ebony ring that had a purple glow to it, enchanted with a barrier spell.
The Duke stopped to talk to the Nordic man, the Nord looked very serious and when he spoke to the Duke, the Duke let out a laugh and continued to walk off the dock. I quickly walked up to him before his personal guards could get in front of him.
"Excuse me, Duke?" I called to him, "Sorry to bother you sir but I need to find my brother, Caius. Do you know where he is?" The Duke laughed and pointed to a tall building to my left.
"He is in there and you must be, Darin, no?"
"Yes sir, that's me."
"I am very sorry about the passing of your sister, but I can say that we are doing everything we can to find out who did this to her."
"Thank you very much sir, I hope to see you again sometime." He headed to the tall building that the Duke pointed to and everyone continued on their way.
I headed to the tall building that the Duke pointed to. It was a very tall building; it was three stories high. I walked to the door and opened it slowly; I took a quick look around the room only to find it was empty. I walked in and closed the door, which closed with a quiet clicking noise. "Hello?" I said. I could feel the sound of my voice echoing through the rooms of the bottom floor. "I will be there in just a moment," said the voice of woman. In about thirty seconds a brown-haired, 5 foot 7 inch, broad shouldered, good looking Imperial woman walked in the room and stood behind the wooden desk that stood in the middle of the cramped room.
"May I help you sir?" she asked. Her voice was smooth and calming, and then I asked, "Is there a Caius Cascades here?" She smiled and replied.
"Yes he is here, he is upstairs writing a letter the Lord Vivec. And who are you?" I put my hands to my side and said,
"I am Darin Cascades, Caius' brother." She squinted at me and spoke, "Hmm, you do resemble Caius. Go ahead, he is upstairs on the third floor, second door the right." I smiled,
"Thank you very much miss." I replied.
I went towards the stairs that were a long spiral staircase that was made of sturdy wood. It was a good minute before I reached the third floor; the hall was made of stone, much like the rest of the building, and had torches on it ever few feet. I walked in the dimly lighted hall and knocked on the second door on the right.
A man opened the door, he was shorter than I, but he was also much older. He had light-brown hair and was well built much like his younger brother, me. "Hello brother!" he said happily, and then he gave me a hug. "It is good to see you again, Darin."
"It is good to see you again also, Caius." I replied.
"So I assume that Larice gave you my letter."
"Yes he did, and we also ran into some difficulty."
"Oh? Well you can tell me about that later, first tomorrow the Duke is holding a meeting at approximately 5 o'clock pm, and you and I will be there!" he motioned me to come into he room.
It was a homely room, filled with books on shelves, a nice little bed, a small table in the corner, and a fine wooden dresser. The walls were covered with maps and flags and banners. The floor was cold stone, as were the walls and ceiling, it reminded me much of Fort Pelagiad. "Nice place you have made yourself." I said to Caius.
"Yes, yes it is. I have been here for a few months now, I have been very busy writing notes and cracking smuggling cases."
He sat down at the table and spoke, "You may have a look around Ebonheart, that is if you wish to" He looked at me and waited for my answer.
"Yes I think I will, there is a full day ahead of me, might as well become familiar with the people and places here in Ebonheart." I nodded my head "Farewell, for now, brother." And I walked out of the room and into the dim hallway that had a very eerie feeling was about this hall, I have felt it before, I just do not know where.
'Drat! I forgot to ask him about what the Dark Elf said and about our sister' I said to myself, 'Oh well, there will be plenty of time later for asking questions.' I looked around and I squinted because the sun was in my eyes. I had no idea what the Duke was going to talk to my brother and I about, and I hoped that it was going to be good news. I slowly walked across the bridge to the second island, for the next few hours I would explore Ebonheart.