Torchlight flickered off the cold stone of the crumbling fortress walls. They cast a light upon most of the room, though it did little to reveal the black leathers of the blonde Imperial tucked away in a dark, shadowed corner of the chamber.
Even so, Vex was immensely cautious. Vess' job had, at first, sounded to be absolutely easy - but that was before she'd seen the fortress and those that called it home.
"You're not the first to steal from me," Vess had said then, at the pier. "Someone I know - a rival thief - decided he was going to take a dagger that's been in my family for generations, and bring it to a fortress to the west. Now, normally I'd go after it and recover it myself, but the bastard went and allied with the bandits out there... and has given them my description. They left a pretty nasty gash in my side the last time I tried to sneak past them, and that was just past the entrance. So, the task, Vex, is simply this: retrieve my dagger from the fortress - without being spotted, and without killing a single bandit. I don't want him to realize my dagger has been stolen back until I've had a chance to plunge it into his back. I know, I know," she'd added upon seeing Vex's surprised expression, "'honor among thieves'... but he's never been honorable toward me. Frankly, he's a pain in the ass that needs to be removed entirely. Do this for me, and I'll not only introduce you to some of the finest contacts outside of the Thieves Guild... I may also feel inclined to let you in on some more lucrative business opportunities."
Low risk, high return. Stealing from a bunch of clueless bandits, returning a dagger to its owner, being introduced to a couple new fences to do business with, and the prospect of future work, provided by Vess? Vex was too happy with her good luck to consider this first job an insult to her otherwise elite abilities.
Or so she'd thought.
It turned out Vess' information had been off. There were bandits in the fortress, alright - and they were all dead. Instead, Vex had to slip by a bunch of necromancers that had apparently claimed the ruined fortress as their own with the former inhabitants dead - most likely by their own hand. She had faith in her ability to slip by anyone undetected, but she would have much rather taken her chances with bandits and metal weaponry than with necromancers and their foul magics, which she had no means of protecting herself against. So far, Vex had slipped into most of the rooms, hoping to find Vess' dagger within each - but so far, each room had been devoid of any daggers matching the description she'd been given.
That left what she presumed to be the quarters of the fortress commander, back when it was still a glorious fortress. Most likely, it was home now to whomever led the necromancers that now called the fortress their home. If it wasn't there, she had no idea where to find it; she'd searched the rest of the place already, practically from top to bottom.
Of course, she had to do the impossible - and slip past the necromancer guarding the door without catching his attention. Seeing whereas he was leaning against the door, however, she didn't foresee that being possible. Worse still, she was in a low crouched position, and her legs were starting to feel stiff; she knew that if she waited too long, her legs would ache when she began to move again. The necromancer hadn't noticed her when she'd slipped into the room - his attention had been elsewhere at the time - but now he seemed as if his gaze wouldn't shift for anything but someone approaching from either side.
In short, she was losing this waiting game. Something needed to change, and fast.
Almost as if that realization was a cue, she heard footsteps coming from the corridor she'd entered the room from, and glanced over her shoulder from her corner. It sounded like one- no, two sets of footsteps were approaching. The necromancer leaning against the door stood straight at the sound, and he readied - much to Vex's horror - what appeared to be a spell that Vex recognized as the Magelight spell.
"Who's there?" he demanded, charging the spell before shooting the small, brilliant sphere of pure white magicka down the corridor; Vex had to fight the urge to sigh in relief, as the light didn't so much as shimmer off her shadow-covered figure.
"For the love of- put that out!" The reply was obviously rude, the tone gruff and coarse. "You're blinding me here!"
The necromancer grumbled under his breath for a moment. "Just walk past it, idiot," he growled. "I'm not wasting magicka to save your eyesight."
"Prick." The newcomer came into view - and his face made Vex's breath catch in her throat.
It was the male Breton she'd seen in the Cistern, the day she'd left the Guild behind. The same man who had looked at her for a time, then acted as if she was beneath him. She wondered wildly what he was doing here - and why the necromancer wasn't attacking him.
Behind him, a blonde Nord in rags was being all but dragged against his will behind the Breton. His wrists were bound, and it looked as if he'd been starved for days now. He was very skittish besides, his eyes darting this way and that; his demeanor was unmistakably terrified.
"Who's this, then?" The necromancer was staring at the Nord in rags, his nose wrinkled. Vex wondered why, and then it hit her in her corner: the reek of someone who hadn't bathed in days - possibly more. She fought the urge to gag, and had to force herself not to vomit.
"Some poor bastard who stuck his nose where it doesn't belong," the Breton replied. "I wondered what to do with him, then decided that maybe he'd make a better guard here in the fortress than he would a prisoner in the tower."
Vex wondered what exactly was going on here.
"So you starve him and deny him a bath," the necromancer scoffed. "Brilliant. I can see now why you're our esteemed leader's right-hand man."
"Spare me your sarcasm," the Breton snapped, "and let me in. Our 'esteemed leader' will decide this poor bastard's fate himself."
The necromancer shrugged, then turned to the door and unlocked it with a key pulled from a shabby burlap pouch at his side. He pushed the door open, then moved as far away from the door as he could - presumably to get as far away from the reeking Nord as possible. "Go on, then, and let me breathe some clean air for a change."
The Breton dragged the Nord into the room, who resisted at every chance he got; unfortunately for him, the lack of nourishment took its toll on him, and he was easily overpowered by the rather frail-in-comparison Breton.
Vex realized, in that instant, that the circumstances were perfect: the door was open, the necromancer's back was turned, and no one was around to see her slip into the room. This was the opportunity she was waiting for, and she took it with all haste - and with due caution, of course.
She slipped through the door just a second before it would have brushed against her, and so it was as if the Breton and the Nord had entered together - with no one else following them.
Already, Vex was examining the room, searching for an ideal hiding place - and a possible shortcut out, where she could slip out once she had Vess' dagger.
The sight that greeted her made her sick to her stomach, and she seriously thought she was going to vomit right then and there. The stench that assailed her nostrils made the Nord's reek seem like wildflowers in comparison.
If the chamber had belonged to a former fortress commander, it no longer looked the part. In the center of the room sat a stone altar caked in blood and gore. The stench of death was heavy in the air, accompanied by the reek of decaying remains. She couldn't tell from her current position, owing to one of several stone pillars throughout the room, but she thought she could see a half-rotted human hand upon the floor - and just the hand; it was missing two fingers, and the middle finger was half its normal length.
Candles arranged in a circular fashion around the altar provided dim illumination of the sides of the altar, while a chandelier of goat horns and wrought iron provided dim light from above. Fortunately for Vex, this meant the rest of the room was fairly dark; unfortunately for her, that also meant she would have difficulty seeing the floor - and if the strength of the deathly stench was any indicator, she suspected she'd trip over bones or other half-rotted body parts. No matter how hard she looked, she could see nothing else beyond the dimly lit altar; there was no other light source illuminating the room. She wondered if it was always this dark, or if it was preference of the necromancers' leader.
"Ugh... who had the decency to stink up my room?" An elf's voice was audible, and the elf to whom it belonged stepped into view - Vex guessed it was a dark elf, judging from how dark his skin was in the candlelight. "And with a filthy Nord, no- ah, it's just you."
"Yes, it's 'just me'," the Breton replied coolly. "Me, and some unfortunate soul who thought it'd be funny to eavesdrop on my latest bit of business."
"I told you, I wasn't-" The Nord finally spoke, but was cut off when the Breton whirled around and backhanded him savagely. He spun halfway around in place, and collapsed to his knees.
"Guild business, or our business?" the elf asked.
"Both."
The elf moved around the altar, and glanced the Nord over briefly. He walked around both the Breton and the Nord, but it was clear to Vex he was sizing the Nord up. She decided to take advantage of both the dim lighting and the clear distraction to press on; she didn't want to stick around any longer than necessary.
"You brought him to me because...?"
"I thought you could use another eternal guardian."
Vex didn't like the sound of that. Neither did the Nord, who was starting to panic now. She wasn't looking, but the sound of something hard connecting with flesh made her reasonably sure the Nord had been struck again. She steeled her resolve and refused to look at the scene unfolding behind her, instead determined to devote her attention to finding Vess' dagger.
"He's weak, but he'll do just fine. Put him on the altar, and let's begin."
She heard the sound of feet shuffling upon the stone floor, and imagined the Nord was being forced to lay upon the altar. Were there restraints on it to hold him in place? She couldn't remember; she hadn't been looking, either. For a moment, the thought of her being bound and laid out on the altar came to mind, and she realized - with no small amount of terror - that such would be her fate if she were caught.
"How much does he know?" the elf asked.
"I don't know any-" She heard another sickening impact, and was fairly certain she heard bone crack, possibly even break outright. She hoped - morbidly, she realized - that it was his nose; she wasn't sure she could stomach the thought of it being anything else.
"He knows you sent me to infiltrate the Guild and secure the supplies we can't obtain legally through them."
Vex tried to zone them out, but the fact that the Guild was being exploited without their knowledge... she found it both comical and offensive, as she'd once been part of the Guild. Part of her wanted to warn the Guild. The other part of her wanted the Guild to be duped by someone with clearly malevolent intentions and ulterior motives.
"Bring me the dagger, then. Let's be done with this."
She paused for a second.
"You mean-"
"Yes, that dagger. The one you retrieved a while back."
Vex held her breath. Was the Breton the thief that stole Vess' dagger from her? Was that same dagger about to be used for some malevolent sacrifice, or ritual?
"But I thought-"
"Do not forget, fool, which of us is the leader of this group," the elf interrupted. "The dagger. Now. Or you will be following this poor fool in undeath."
She shivered at the words, and was infinitely grateful she hadn't been detected... yet. She watched the Breton step away from the altar, watched him slip into the darkness of the room. The dagger was over there somewhere, then. She had to try - though she doubted it would work - to retrieve it before he could. She held no particular attachment to the Nord in rags, but undeath was not a fate she wished on him all the same. Mercer Frey, maybe... but not an innocent Nord.
She could make out the Breton's outline when he stopped and turned to face the elf. "I have to object to using her dagger. If she finds out-"
"She won't find out, because she'll never get the dagger back," the elf snapped. Vex took advantage of the moment to slip past the Breton, and found herself examining a very faintly lit desk with a sheathed blade laying atop it. Silver trim decorated the hilt in ornate looping fashions.
She hadn't seen the blade yet, but she somehow knew it was Vess' dagger. The hilt certainly matched the description Vess had given Vex.
"She's resourceful. I'm sure she'll-"
She glanced over her shoulder to see why the Breton stopped speaking, and noticed the elf was looking directly at her - no, not at her, at where the dagger had been located upon the desk. "Dagger. Now. Don't make me fetch it myself, or I'll sacrifice you first, then this filthy Nord."
"I'm the only connection to the Guild you've got. You wouldn't dare," the Breton said in a self-assured manner.
"Do you truly believe that?" The elf laughed in a mocking manner. "Pawns are easily replaced... and you... all of you... are pawns."
"And you're, what, the king?" The Breton scoffed. "Don't make me laugh."
Vex decided that now was a good time to leave; the elf was moving in such a manner that suggested he was going to attack the Breton. She decided that it was too risky to try and slip out the way she'd come, and instead set about trying to find some sort of shortcut out. She turned her attention to the floor, hoping against all hope she'd find a trapdoor to use.
"Last chance, you useless piece of trash. Get me the dagger so I may sacrifice this poor fool and spare your life, or you will both be serving our lord in an eternal vigil."
Now Vex really didn't want to know. As insistent as the elf was being, she suspected she was running out of time to find a shortcut out.
"It's... where in Oblivion did you put it?"
Vex's breath caught in her throat, and she froze in horror.
"It's right there on the desk, you idiot. Stop pretending you can't see it and bring it to me."
"No, it's not here!" The Breton's outline turned to face the elf. "Come here if you don't believe me!"
Vex watched as the elf slipped into the darkness, and her eyes fell upon the Nord. His attention was upon where the elf had disappeared, eyes wide with something akin to disbelief and hope. She felt a twinge of pity for him, and moved toward him, deciding that setting him free was worth the risk; their backs were turned, after all, and the lighting wasn't all that great.
When she came into view, sheathed dagger in hand, the Nord's eyes shot to her and his eyes widened - but to her relief, he didn't gasp in surprise. She lifted a finger and pressed it to her lips, then silently drew the blade and, in one fluid motion, cut the bindings at his wrists. She gestured wordlessly to the door, then handed the dagger to him.
He got the message, and as quietly as he could, slipped off the altar he'd been forced upon, Vess' dagger in hand.
"Great, it's not here. Now stop hiding it so we can get this over with!" The elf was sounding irritated; Vex made a mental note that for all the power they possessed, necromancers - or this one in particular - seemed to have no patience, nor did they seem inclined to believe that something was, indeed, missing.
"I don't have it! You can search me if you want!"
Vex stepped toward the door, the Nord in rags close behind her, and opened it silently. She heard the sound of someone shifting suddenly, and remembered that the necromancer that had been standing guard was originally leaning against the door; she worried he'd catch on immediately.
Luckily, the Nord, malnourished and frail as he was, was still in possession of some strength and speed, and seized the man's neck with one hand. He squeezed hard enough to prevent any sort of noise from escaping the necromancer's mouth, and nodded to Vex, who slipped out of the disgusting ritual chamber and silently closed the door behind her.
As soon as it was shut, the Nord slammed the necromancer on the stone floor, hand ramming against his throat. The impact of the stone floor against his back knocked the wind out of the necromancer, while the choking hand around his neck suddenly ramming into his throat denied him the ability to breathe for a time. Vex made a mental note not to get on this Nord's bad side.
"Thank you," the Nord said quietly once he was sure the necromancer had passed out from asphyxiation. "Here. I think you came here for this." He sheathed the dagger and handed it back to Vex. "I don't need it, as you saw."
"Mm." She took it back and tucked it at her waist, beneath her belt. "We should keep going; they're eventually going to realize both the dagger and you are missing."
"Aye." He glanced toward the door, then looked down the corridor. "Come on, I'll lead the way and take care of any of these bastards that try to get in our way."
Vess had told Vex that she'd be waiting for her outside Elgrim's Elixirs. It was out of the way enough that only those in need of the apothecary would spot her, and she wouldn't draw undue attention; she was a practicing alchemist herself, and had been seen in and around the shop before. That was exactly where Vex found the wood elf, after she'd entered the city of Riften once more. The Nord had departed her company shortly after they'd successfully escaped the fortress; he'd knocked out each of the necromancers that tried to stand against them, while she remained undetected through it all. Vex had no words for Vess at first, and instead just handed the recovered blade to the wood elf.
Vess drew the dagger that Vex had handed to her, and examined the blade closely. She then turned her attention to the hilt, and nodded lightly. "This is it." She sheathed the blade and tucked it away. "I'm impressed, Vex. Thank you."
"Your information was off." Vex launched into an explanation as to how necromancers had overrun the place, and mentioned the Breton and his affiliation with the Guild.
By the time she finished, Vess looked troubled. "Ah... well, for what it's worth, I'm sorry for sending you into such a dangerous place. Had I known there were necromancers there now..." She shook her head. "But never mind that. You got my dagger back, and as an added bonus, you rescued an innocent Nord from a cruel fate." She smiled at Vex. "You've definitely proven yourself trustworthy, so now it's time for me to hold up my end of the deal." She reached into a small satchel at her waist and pulled out a neatly folded letter, and handed it to the Imperial. "In two days' time, meet me at the location indicated by that letter." She winked at Vex, and began to leave.
"Wait." Vex had taken the letter, but her eyes were narrowed and locked onto the wood elf. "I think I deserve a little compensation for the risks I took for your sake."
Vess looked amused, but didn't argue the point. Instead, she wordlessly tugged a small coin purse from her side and tossed it to Vex, who caught it handily. "There's not much there," she admitted, "but I'll have more for you in two days' time, I promise."
Vex's fingers clamped around the coin purse, getting a feel for roughly how many coins were within. She could almost swear she could count the number of coins on both hands. "You're kidding me. I could have died-"
"Two days' time, Vex," Vess interrupted. "I get that you're used to instant gratification, but if you're going to be working with me in the future, you'll need to learn patience. Trust me, alright? In two days' time, at the location in that letter, you'll receive far more compensation, an introduction to the contacts I promised you, and - because you performed so admirably - another job I have in mind."
Vex didn't like the thought of having a figurative carrot dangled in front of her. Vess had been wrong about the bandits, and had provided her with far less coin than she'd been expecting. What if the wood elf was just playing Vex for the fool, conning her? Right then and there, Vex wondered if she was better off just leaving Riften and never looking back.
And yet... a couple fences, contacts, jobs... that was one tempting carrot to simply turn away from. Vess had indeed given Vex a job, and had indeed rewarded Vex for it - albeit not immediately. What if the wood elf could be trusted? Was her own paranoia really worth sacrificing what could very well be the best thing to happen to her since she'd left the Guild?
She turned her gaze toward Vess, who was now climbing the wooden steps leading up to the stone streets. She thought for a moment about what she had to gain, and what she had to lose. Since she had nothing to lose, she decided to trust against her better instinct - and placed her faith in the wood elf's word.
Faldar's Tooth. Bring the following:
-One (1) bottle of Black-Briar Mead
-One (1) bottle of Black-Briar Reserve
-One (1) bottle of Honningbrew Mead
-One (1) bottle of Honningbrew Reserve
-One (1) battleaxe (material doesn't matter)
-One (1) white cloth
-The money in the small coin purse I gave you
Before you arrive, tie the white cloth around the head of the battleaxe, and wave it through the air as you draw near Faldar's Tooth. You will be greeted by a man just inside the gate. Give him the bottle of Black-Briar Reserve, and he'll let you pass. The next guard you encounter will be outside the door leading to the fort interior. Give him the bottle of Honningbrew Reserve. Once inside, keep the battleaxe with the white cloth around its head in view. When you reach the fighting pit, use the coin I gave you to place a wager on 'Silverfang'. Follow the bookkeeper's instructions from there.
-V
P.S. - The Black-Briar Mead and Honningbrew Mead are for our guests.
Vex had to admit, the list of items she'd need and the instructions struck her as bizarre, but she decided she'd go with it. She felt ridiculous waving the iron battleaxe through the air as she neared the fort, the white cloth wrapped around its head, but felt a little hope when she saw the guard on the other side of the gate, arms crossed. As per the instructions, she offered him the Black-Briar Reserve, and he let her in. She found it annoying that she'd been instructed to find Honningbrew anything in Riften, but she'd managed to find a bottle of each and... 'liberate' them from their owners. The second guard received the Honningbrew Reserve with a nod, and let her inside.
The interior of Faldar's Tooth was dark and damp, the air cool. It was better lit than the fortress she'd infiltrated to retrieve Vess' dagger, which was oddly refreshing to her; it better illuminated the white cloth upon the battleaxe, and apparently served to keep several weapons from other men and women in the fort at bay.
When she reached the fighting pit, she looked appalled to find two wolves trying to kill each other. She'd heard the rumors that Faldar's Tooth was a place where pit wolves fought, and people placed bets... but she didn't dare believe it. She felt absolutely uncomfortable placing her wager on Silverfang, and with such a small, pitiful sum at that. The bookkeeper glanced at the sum, counted it out, then looked at Vex.
"Follow me." He opened the gate to the caged area he was standing in, and waited for her to enter. As soon as she did, he closed the gate and locked it.
"Hand me the battleaxe and cloth." She did so all too eagerly; the weight of the unfamiliar weapon had irked her, and she was glad to be rid of it. She watched as he set it down on the bottom-most shelf opposite the wall.
"Show me the letter." She did so, only slightly surprised he knew about it. He read it, nodded once, then crumpled it up and tossed it on a nearby brazier. He then moved toward the back wall, and pressed his fingers against a stone in the wall.
It sank into the wall beneath the pressure his fingers applied, and she heard a clicking sound. The entire wall shifted, and slowly swung open to reveal a small, secret passage.
"Go on ahead. I need to close the way behind you." He watched as she stepped into the passage tentatively. "And Miss Vex. Welcome aboard."
She blinked at the last five words. Did he know, then, about her? What did he mean by 'welcome aboard'? Was she part of some... secretive, alternate guild of thieves? She didn't get the chance to ask; he closed the secret door behind her, leaving her only one way to go.
The passage was reminiscent of a cavern, with wrought iron torches buried in the stone wall here and there to provide light. The passage seemed to stretch on for quite a while, and Vex wondered where it led. Would it lead directly to Vess and their two guests?
Eventually, the cavernous passage ended at a wooden door. The Imperial thief pushed it open tentatively, knowing she was fully lit by a nearby torch sconce; if there was anyone hostile on the other side, she was most definitely going to be seen.
What she saw made her jaw drop and elicited a gasp from her.
A room of stone walls, decorated with some of the finest silver dishes, silverware and wooden furniture she'd ever seen, illuminated by several lanterns throughout the room. Several tapestries of varying colors and patterns adorned the walls, hiding most of the stone walls from view; some of the tapestries appeared Khajiiti in design, some appeared to be of Valenwood origin. The wooden furniture was elegantly carved redwood, polished to a brilliant shine in some cases. In the center of the room sat a table surrounded by ten chairs; the entire set of furniture all but screamed upper class to Vex. Upon the table was a map of Skyrim, with septims dotting it here and there; she wondered wildly why they were on the map. Another glance around the room revealed several vases, filled with lavender, tundra cotton, and several other species of flora Vex wasn't familiar with; they were obviously from outside of Skyrim. It looked absolutely nothing like the rest of the fort.
Leaning against the table, facing her, was Vess. She looked up as Vex entered the room, and smiled warmly. "Glad you made it. I was worrying you didn't trust me enough to follow through with my instructions. I'm extremely glad you did." She gestured to the other two figures in the room, one at either end of the table.
The first figure was a female Khajiit, with fur as black as night; it put her amber eyes in sharp contrast to the darkness of her fur. Her figure was clad in armor that Vex could have sworn was Guild leather, but she knew there were definite differences; it resembled Vess' armor more, except without the criss-crossing straps in the front and back; she also didn't wear the black cloak that Vess did. Where Vess' armor was brown, the Khajiit's armor was almost as black as her fur. She nodded her head to Vex in silent greeting.
"The Khajiit at my left is Ahzaja, but is comfortable being called 'Za', if you prefer. She's not the best fence in the world, but she can sell stolen goods nonetheless; in addition, she's able to locate exotic items from around Tamriel, no matter what you ask her to find."
"A pleasure," Ahzaja all but purred, bowing her head respectfully to Vex.
"And the Nord to my right... well, according to him, I believe you two have already met." Vess sounded quite amused as she alluded to that fact. When Vex turned her attention to the Nord, her jaw dropped.
It was the same man she'd saved from the cruel fate of undeath in the fortress two days ago. He certainly appeared to be in far better health than when she'd last seen him, and had clearly jumped at the opportunity to see after his personal hygiene besides. Instead of rags, he was now wearing steel plate armor, gauntlets and boots - but rather than the familiar, dull grey color, his armor was a brilliant white color. A steel plate helm rested upon the table in front of him, just as white as the rest of his armor. He nodded with a friendly smile toward Vex.
"His name is Agvar, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better fence than him - well, outside of the Thieves Guild, anyway," Vess added with a chuckle. "He's not as proficient as Za at finding exotic goods, but he does offer worthwhile goods nonetheless, should you need them."
"We meet again," Agvar said, bowing respectfully toward her. "I can't thank you enough for saving my life from those necromancers, truly. When I saw you were after Vess' dagger, I wondered..."
"I didn't send her to save you, because I hadn't known you'd needed saving," Vess said with a sigh. "It's by pure luck she decided to save you, I'm afraid."
"That's well enough for me." He chuckled softly, and beckoned Vex closer. "Come, join us, friend."
"I would know your name," Ahzaja said, eyes never once leaving the Imperial as she approached the table. "I would rather not refer to you as 'you', or 'friend of Vess'."
"Er... Vex. My name is Vex." She couldn't believe her own luck. She had saved one of the fences Vess had intended to introduce her to - and not only that, the wood elf had kept her word. Vex had access to two fences now, both of whom apparently had their own strengths and weaknesses.
"And, also as promised..." Vess gestured to the map on the table, dotted with septims. "This is our single greatest resource as of yet. Each coin represents a prospective job, heist, or otherwise high value mark in Skyrim."
"I have maps of the other provinces," Ahzaja added, finally looking away from Vex. "Each of them have their own high value targets, but we won't be turning our attention to them just yet. We are still small in scale for now." She licked her lips, then lglanced at Vex briefly. "Before we say more, however, I believe you have something for us?"
She blinked, then recalled the two bottles of mead. "I do, yes. Black-Briar Mead, and Honningbrew Mead." She swung the small pack she'd 'borrowed' from the Pawned Prawn around to her front, and withdrew the last two bottles of mead. It occurred to her she had no idea who was supposed to receive which one.
Apparently, it didn't matter; they both just grabbed the bottle closest to them with an appreciative look.
"And last, but certainly not least..." Vess ducked beneath the table for but a moment, and emerged with a fat coin purse that was easily close to bursting with coin. "Compensation for the risks you took to retrieve my dagger, as well as a bonus from Za, Agvar and myself for saving Agvar from that morbid fate." She passed it off to Agvar, who handed it off to Vex in turn.
Vex had never felt so excited about something in... quite some time. She felt almost like a child receiving gift after gift on their birthday, and just when they felt as if they'd reached the last present, they received another. Life as a thief outside of the Guild... it was suddenly very possible, and she was living that life now. She suddenly felt the urge to rub it in Mercer's face, to show him that she didn't need the Guild any longer, but that they may need her... and that she would laugh as they failed while she, Vess, Ahzaja and Agvar flourished.
"So... faulty information on your last job notwithstanding, have I interested you enough in joining us formally?" Vess asked with a smile.
"Absolutely," Vex replied without hesitation. She was not letting this opportunity slip away from her.
"Good. Then there's one final thing we would ask you to do for us first..."
A.N. - When I'd been writing the chapter, I didn't think it would become as long as it did. On the one hand, I'm glad it turned out this long... but on the other, now I'm going to feel a sort of nagging in the back of my mind, telling me 'you wrote more than this for the third!'. My mind is brutal like that sometimes.
For those who are curious, Vess' dagger is, in effect, the Justiciar Knife from the Immersive Weapons mod. I thought about the Seeker Knife, but decided the Justiciar was a better fit - in part because it's darker, but mostly because she actually uses a tempered Justiciar Knife as her dagger of choice when she needs one.
That's not the last Vex will be seeing of the Breton. He and the necromancers won't play a massive part in the story, but they will appear again. As for their 'lord'? Said lord will not be appearing at all. Or rather, at present, I have no plans whatsoever to actually bring him into the story. (Also, fun fact: when I wrote the first half of the first chapter months ago, I'd originally intended to have the Breton serve as the male protagonist. Odd, then, that he's become an antagonist this time around. :P )
I've always wanted to do something with Faldar's Tooth. The one time I explored it, I thought 'why is there not more stuff inside?!' I then decided it was because of the bandits located outside. My memory as to the interior is hazy, I'm afraid, so if I got a couple details wrong, that's why.
The fortress Vex infiltrated is a place of my own imagining. I may even make an actual mod of it at some point, if I feel so inclined, but until then, it's just a place that doesn't actually exist in-game yet.
So I think my save file for Vess broke. For whatever reason, it keeps spamming a message about some error or the other with Alternate Start: Live Another Life - the catch? When I started that particular save file, it was with the vanilla start, in Helgen. I hadn't used AS:LAL for that, so I didn't get it. At first, I'd thought 'no biggie, I'll just dismiss the message'... and then it popped up again. And again. And again. And... well, you get it. It was making things ridiculous for me to play. (Yet ironically, my tank character DID get her start with AS:LAL, and the message only popped up once. Just once. I was able to play the game uninterrupted after that once happened, but when I tried playing Vess again, it kept popping up over and over again.) I've started a new game for Vess, and have decided to hold true to what I've come to imagine her as. When I first created Vess, I just wanted 'Bosmer in the Bosmer armor', and rocked that out pretty well. Then she started to develop a personality in my eyes... and when I went through the Dragonborn questline with Vess, her personality had taken hold. I became fond of playing her, and was trying to level her talent for thievery - not entirely easy at level 33, mind you, considering the few points you can spend in perks. So, with this new rendition of Vess, I've decided to focus on her thievery first, and THEN work on her combat skills, which honestly don't have a lot of points in them to begin with. (Most of her levels came from Smithing, when I wanted the Bosmer Armor and then the Bosmer Engraved Armor. This time around, I'm not going to touch Smithing unless I need to temper gear. I'll find the Bosmer pieces on my own this time around.)
-Spiritslayer
