It took another few cups for me to get to the point of not wanting another drop of alcohol. I wasn't drunk like the other patrons but I surely wasn't completely sober, either. At least I wouldn't stick out of the other drinkers entirely and that would benefit me. Although I was content in my current place working at the shop, the craftsman brought up a feeling I didn't give attention to for a while. He was more than willing to help me start a quest he knew nothing about, giving me pieces of equipment that could have gotten him a large amount of coin. Also, the father from before gave me a scroll that had magical properties out of the blue. I didn't even know where in oblivion this man was.

"Hey, you here alone?" A voice broke me from my thoughts and I was greeted with the face of a Breton with a drunk expression. No bottle in his hand but the signs were clear.

"Yeah, just me but don't think you're going to anything out of me or in me." Drunks were always the worst kind of people to deal with, even compared to monsters or wildlife in my opinion. They wouldn't be intimidated no matter what is said or done. At least with most enemies with brains, the smaller would keep themselves away from the larger predator.

"Sure, whatever you say. You wanna share a drink?" It was a bold question but I expected as much, especially seeing as I had a bottle in front of me and it could have something to do with Sader speaking with me. No matter the race, men were aggressive when it came to other men.

"Yeah, I can do that BUT you don't pour me anything." I wasn't a social drinker, instead keeping to myself in a closed room when I give in to the temptations. The Breton was already eagerly filling his cup he brought, pushing the bottle to me. I took some of what was remaining and the conversation started. It started with the usual flirty questions but the more the Breton drank, the easier it was to avoid that specific subject.

"Did you know those Khajiit things were running around here? The fact they got up here is unbelievable. Anything is getting into the walls lately!" The Breton was rambling like before but this seemed to be a big subject to him. I didn't know much about the smaller races around Tamriel but I did know the Khajiit's were a special one with their diversity.

"Did something happen?" This man was more than ready to spout out anything I asked at this point. The bottle was no longer in my possession, instead in the hands of the Breton and was basically done. It was more amazing that he wasn't unconscious in his seat.

"Of course, something did with someone like that! Rumor has it that this guy at the Red Bird southwest of here knows where to find something he stole. It's odd he doesn't get it himself but that's probably cause this guy is just stupid." The guy was now teetering in his seat. He was finally spent but finished of the bottle anyway and then just simply left. He didn't say anything else and simply took himself to another table. I watched him as he went but shook my head and stood up myself. I wasn't nearly as drunk, barely in fact, but grabbed my scroll and left for my room.

I've been staying in the same room for six months for now. In fact, the Innkeeper actually gave me some more accommodations than I had when I first stumbled through the door on that first day. The room I rented now had not changed, officially taken away as an available room to rent until the day I was gone. Below the bed was where I stored my equipment but it was getting worn from not being used. It wasn't great to begin with but probably couldn't even kill a goblin like it did before.

"I don't know if I should go or not. I have support and coin already but I just…don't know." Once again, I spoke to myself aloud to hopefully work through the problems that plagued my mind. I had apparently gotten too used to the normal life of someone who was living to do just that quickly. What I am doing now was much, much closer to my earlier life when I was a working soldier. I always did envy to get back to my 'previous life', as I call it.

"Okay, I have to see what I paid for." I sunk into my chair, the frayed scroll laying on the newly made table. It didn't look any different, not even a special glow some magical items gave off. There was no way this could have magical properties. The paper crinkled slightly and I made sure to take my time to not ruin it.

"What in Oblivion?" I was met with what I almost expected but was disappointed to see the scroll was entirely blank. No marks, no words, nothing to show any magical evidence.

"Those mages did nothing and took my coin anyway?!" I flipped the scroll over to see nothing around again. I continued to look at the paper to see if my eyes were tricking me but there was still nothing. I scoffed and carelessly threw the wasted time onto the floor behind me. My head was pounding in both disappointment and the alcohol. I didn't drink often, barely anytime at all, but I knew I was a lightweight. I held my head for a moment and that was all I remembered until the next day.

When the next day came, I had ended up half on and half off my bed. My head was still irritated but that was to be expected. It was still dark in the room, meaning I put out the candles before I collapsed. The noise was silent inside the Inn and the darkness outside only contained the normal shuffling or noises from anything crawling in the degradation of criminality outside.

"I guess I have no choice…" I sighed and flipped so I was on the bed entirely on my chest. I couldn't remember at all what happened while I was asleep, but I came to a realization. My destiny was to stop Jagar Tharn. I couldn't get away from it and my mind would never stop distracting me about it, either.

For a few hours until the sun first shone itself and the night dwellers went back into hiding, I distracted myself with what I could do next. It was very clear what I had to do but it would be odd to go back to the craftsman after denying his help the day before. After that, I had to track down any information on Fang Lair. Of course, in between all of that, I had to work on getting better items and keeping myself satiated in regard to basic needs. This was definitely going to be much harder than I could ever plan for.

My gaze drifted around the room without me noticing when it stopped on the scroll from last night that I had wasted my time and money on. All it had on it after all was writing and that was…

"Wait…what in oblivion happened?!" I sprung to life and picked up the supposedly enchanted scroll once again and it did indeed have writing on it. I knew it wasn't a trick of the mind seeing as I had my door locked all night and I glanced over to see that hadn't changed. I carefully tried to open the door from the side I was on and it wouldn't budge. Unless an extremely skilled mage who could go through solid walls, no spell of which to my knowledge had been discovered to this day, or someone in the night decided to find a way into my room through the window, also of which would be impossible because of the glass panes and none of which were broken.

"So, now you're magic?" The scroll didn't have a glow or some special look. It didn't change at all since last night other than the new writing. I took a deep breath and sat back at the desk and rolled the scroll out to see just one thing on it.

'Rajhin the great Khajiit thief is rumored to have had great skill but also an incredibly valuable ring that added to his reputation. An individual in the Red Bird Inn in Belkarth Guard is said to know its location.'

"That looks familiar…" It took a moment but the conversation from yesterday with the drunkard who had his way with my complimentary bottle of booze. He spoke of a rumor about that guy, which apparently got recorded on my…scroll?

"So, is that all you can do?" I flipped the scroll to its opposite side but seen nothing. My suspicion about the scroll being an illusion of some sort came back in droves. Although it would be hard to make two sides enchanted to show different things, there were many powerful wizards that could so such a thing without a problem. Even an apprentice in magic could do such a thing by accident if they tried enough times. I have seen many young mages do something stupid or dangerous not thinking before trying something new or above their skill level. That was one reason, if not the biggest reason, I didn't dabble in magic. Swords were predictable but reliable even in the hands of a child with little practice.

"I guess that's it, then. Still a waste of money. I wonder how much I have left after this waste of my hard work." I clumsily flipped the scroll to its original side and seen just as I had before, a list of what I possessed. I stared at what I had now seen for a few moments before my hands gripped the sides of the paper. I quickly flipped the parchment over and over again before I put together what really happened.

"What in Oblivion does this thing do?! I thought you had that rumor before!" I looked around the room to the window and door to see if anything suspicious was happening but it was just me as I wasn't quite expecting. I looked back just in time to see something I haven't seen accomplished even with the greatest minds in the Imperial City. The list of items I saw was gone and the log of the Khajiit thief from before was just done…reappearing. Its writing was magically showing up on its own!

I was standing in front of the Mages Guild, enchanted paper in hand, determined to find out what exactly was discovered. I could not imagine what sort of godly mage could make this happen. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out where this was obtained from precisely because Sader got it from someone he didn't know and disappeared right after. The best and only lead I have is the master wizard that no doubt identified the magical properties of my item.

As before, the interior of the building was quiet, even void of brewing potions. The books were still orderly and it was extremely clean. I was afraid there were no current tenants until I spied the resident mage working on what looked like an inscription of his own on one of the side tables in the spaces between walls. He noticed me without glancing and stopped his work to speak.

"Welcome back, Tenyin. What brings a busy woman like you back to me this soon?" He ruffled with items around his work station while waiting for my response. I didn't need to think about it, having my topics memorized before I left the Inn.

"I have questions about the item I asked you to look at. There is something different about it, much different than any magic I have yet to experience elsewhere." The mage snickered and turned, his eyes looking down to me inquisitively. This was not the look I was expecting to get from the man who was a senior to many magic users.

"I was hoping you would come with questions. I coincidentally have many for you about that very item." I was taken aback at the response, not knowing what he could ask seeing as his eyes should have seen everything first.

"Hold on. Why do you have questions? Don't you know what this is?"

"Indeed, I do. It is an enchanted scroll, not a doubt in my mind there. The problem is that I don't know how it works. I may be intelligent but it certainly seems like something from the Divines themselves or some Deadra Lord but I surely hope not there." The mage was being surprisingly honest but without anything to lose on his end, it was partially expected.

"I'm not sure. I got it from a random person. I didn't even see him personally, a friend of mine said he got it from someone he didn't even know. I would be happy to show you a few things about it and maybe you can get some knowledge from it." The wizard lifted an eyebrow and nodded. I had practiced with the scroll for a few hours before coming to the Guild Hall, finding out many new things. This wasn't a tool that could be used in combat but was too valuable out of combat.

"I feel bad that I cannot have it for an extended period of time, but I would be honored to see what can be done with it." The mage's eyes were glued on the item. No doubt he was mystified by the possibilities of abilities and advancements of magic. I didn't keep him in suspense and unrolled the parchment to be flat on the table. I would start with something that I considered to be on a smaller scale than most other things I could do. It took me a few seconds to have a section of the area of Belkarth Guard begin to manifest on the paper. The mage's eyes widened and he lowered himself to get a closer look at what he was seeing.

"You can touch it. I want you to know what this is, especially since I had you look at it first." The mage nodded his head towards me and turned the scroll towards himself. He immediately started fidgeting with the map itself and his enthusiasm grew with every passing second.

"This is amazing! How much can you do with this?" I pulled the scroll back in front of me and the mage patiently waited. I made the map leave until it was blank yet again. The next thing I brought up was something I didn't figure out until later in my experiments. I could not do much but something exciting.

'Buckler, Broadsword' Two items were listed on the parchment alone. The mage waited but nothing else shown up. His eyes drifted to me, presumably waiting for an explanation.

"This doesn't look like much but I'll show you something very impressive." With that, I tapped the buckler item and it appeared literally out of thin air to my left. I gripped the handle and took a step back from the table. The mage moved the scroll back towards him and his gaze bounced from the buckler to the scroll.

"Where did that come from? Is that yours? Where was it originally? What kind of magic could it have been? Can you do that for anything?" The mage spit out questions as fast as possible and I certainly couldn't follow along entirely.

"Calm down, please. One question at a time or at least only the most important ones." I set the buckler down and the mage stopped speaking, looking away to probably sort out his questions.

"Of course, excuse my actions. Hm…do you own that item?"

"Yes. It is from my room at the Inn, in fact. The broadsword is also sitting in the same place."

"Ah. How did you figure out about this magic?" That question was not as easily answered and in fact was something I had to think before answering. I did wonder about that before coming but I was certainly not knowledgeable enough in magic to get a concrete answer.

"I cannot say for sure but I think it is some sort of exceptionally advanced teleportation magic. Do you know of anything of this sort?" Having a master in magic to help me would be my best bet to get the mystery solved quicker.

"I cannot say I have. Other Guilds or other races even might know more but I cannot say I came upon anything yet. I am severely sorry to disappoint you."

"Don't be sorry. You already did more than I could ask for, especially with meeting with me at this short notice. I could not be any more thankful to you." The mage smiled and moved the scroll back towards myself. I tapped the 'Buckler' item once again and it disappeared to its original location.

"Thank you for the compliment and understanding. Can you do that for anything you have like your clothing or other things that may be on your person?"

"I can only do that for things I don't have on me at that time. I'm not sure exactly what I can do since I haven't figured any of this out until this morning." The mage nodded and finally broke eye contact with the magic item.

"This is certainly an amazing advancement in magic. Although I know you need this at the current time but would it be possible for you to ever…donate this item to the Mages Guild for research?" As bold as it was to ask for something so quickly, the mages are always looking to gain more knowledge no matter where they were based.

"At some point, possibly. There is no telling what can happen but I will consider your request." As I spoke, the two items disappeared quickly. The parchment ended up blank and nothing else showed up. The rest of the stuff I knew could happen were not nearly as interesting as being able to teleport and grab things from almost anywhere.

"That is acceptable. Then do you need any more help?"

"Not that I can think of but how much am I compensating you for this visit?" The mage shook his head at my question.

"I do not want any of your gold. I am simply honored I was able to see this discovery first hand. Please, take your item keeping my question in mind."

I was standing in front of the Maker's Tool Shop, thinking about what I could say to the man who I idolized for what he did for a stranger. Despite it being his job to be friendly to anyone he would consider a customer, he has since treated me as an acquaintance and sometimes even a friend. Since I left the Mages Guild and deposited my unbelievable scroll securely in my room, I was reflecting on what I could possibly say after the events of the day before. Although I didn't exactly do anything negative before I left, quite the opposite with the events before our initial talk, I still felt like I had betrayed the most important person in my life since I almost got murdered.

"I'll just go in and tell him that I…made a mistake…about what I have to do…" With a heavy heart, I pushed the reinforced doors to the Maker's Tool Shop and instantly felt the inviting warmth that came with having an active forge in the building. I didn't notice while making my way here how cold it was in this part of Hammerfell at times and my body shook in response to the sudden change in temperature. The craftsman was working at the far end of the building, oblivious to my entrance or maybe purposely not giving me attention. It was impossible to tell.

The walk from the entrance to the work area was taken in short strides as I tried to decide how to deliver the news of what I had planned overnight. It would be very hard for me to admit what I had to do but by the time I stood across from the craftsman on the opposite side of his anvil, I was composed enough. As a previous knight to a great army and a spokesperson for an entire race of people, I was skilled at keeping myself collected while speaking.

"Sir, I have returned." I stared at the craftsman, who continued to work. It was only when he put his hammer down that he returned my gaze.

"I noticed. Did you enjoy your day off?" The craftsman wiped his forehead and stood straight, unmoving in his emotions and intentions.

"It was…enlightening. Much needed, though."

"Probably chatting up the locals, seeing as you aren't the person to keep yourself locked up in the pub with the drunkards. Ready to continue to work?" This was the question I was waiting for, mentally ready but it couldn't give the answer right away.

"I…I can't work anymore. I have to do…things." The craftsman sighed and looked over his shoulders.

"So, you finally accepted your quest, huh? Like all the others that thought they could live."

"I can live well enough! I am trained decades more than the other ones!"

"I know. You are much more competent than any others that I have met and seen leave. In that way, I have no fear you will be back someday, but I ask once more about my gifts I want to give you." Getting straight to the point was easy for this man and saying no to him was even harder. Not because he was intimidating or pushy, it was his extremely charitable aura he seemed to always have.

"Are you…entirely sure?" It was a question with an obvious response, but I couldn't have regrets.

"You made it for yourself, indirectly, and finding a way to sell it would take a while. Yes, it is yours to do with what you will. I would like for you to use it, but you can sell it if you want as well. When are you going to leave, then?"

"Immediately. Although I may not precisely be leaving Hammerfell entirely, I will be traveling around."

"I see. Then all I ask is you return one day to at least tell me how you are and more importantly, so I know you are still alive. Can I ask you of that?"

"You can ask me anything! You've done more than I could have ever asked of one person. What else do you want when I am finished?" It was a big request to make and I was assuming I would have my original position back and assuming more things would end up well after I took care of Jagar Tharn.

"I just want you to come back, let my old bones rest knowing I have helped someone farther than just my small shop."

"Of course, I will be back anytime I return anywhere close to Hammerfell and after that. We will both be at the apex of our lives, I guarantee."

"Indeed. So, can you tell me what your next steps are?"

"As much as I know, I can."

It took a few more hours for the craftsman and I to talk and say our temporary good-byes. The sun was setting when I exited the shop, equipped in my specially and sturdy made armor. The plates felt very comfortable and it was one that would be able to take quite a beating without faltering. I never wore anything I had made but I never had a customer return to give me an opinion. By the time I had returned to the Inn, the armor was far more comfortable to walk in. A couple of people were leaving when I arrived and there wasn't much of an exchange when I had walked in between Sader or the Innkeeper and me. The armor might have been a giveaway, but they just nodded and continued with their duties. It was to be believed that after being in an environment that rumors constantly revolved, the owners would be used to discerning fact and fiction. The next day would be the official start of my journey to see if I could overthrow Jagar Tharn or lose my life doing so.