Sorry it's been so long between this chapter and the last one, uni has been a pain in the ass with new classes and the amount of work I've had to do. So many projects and groupwork DX
Beta'd by The Immortal Spank
"By the gods what was I thinking!" I groaned, my face pressed firmly in my hands as I bitched and moaned.
"I'm such a fucking dumbass. Really, what on nirn was I thinking? Showing those captives the werebeasts was bad enough, they fucking saw the Hagraven too!"
A huff of air escaped my friend's nose, her large mass of brown fur shifting as she settled down next to me; her nudge bringing me to continue my rant.
"All that work with Falkreath on my reputation, down the drain in a single instance! Fueled by some naïve hope that showing I could control those beasts would lessen the inevitable impact when my werebear status gets out." I barked out a forced laugh, "It was only after I had already done it did it occur to me that it was such a terrible idea."
She looked at me, tilting her head as if she was confused.
"Oh, that's right I never showed you." I mused, "Yeah, I can turn into a bear like you now."
The bear next to me snorted.
"I know I know; I'll never be as awesome as you," I lamented as I rubbed her face, in response she mumbled as she patted my chest with her giant paw gently, though It was still powerful enough to force some air out of my lungs.
I caressed her side as I stroked her fur, just the way I knew she liked as she rolled on her other side, giving me unrestricted access as I pampered her. The more I played with her the more my anxiety started to leave my body, maybe those therapeutic animal places were onto something back on earth. Though I doubt they'd ever do it with bears.
"Maybe I'm just being paranoid," I mused silently as the bears head laid in my lap, my hand scratching just behind her ear, feeling the pleased rumbles in her throat on my thigh, "It's been a couple of days since I've gone to Falkreath since the I had returned with the former captives, it's been so busy back at the base. So who knows what the people think of me."
And boy was that true. It had gotten a little hectic with the miners when I had returned with the werewolves and Isobel, they were all naturally terrified of them, but they all had calmed down considerably once they saw that the werebeasts were following my command.
Once that happened I was able to explain everything, though not in full detail; Enough to ensure that they knew they were safe, and that Isobel and the beasts wouldn't bother them. Of course, that didn't mean they were fine with them, but they could ignore them. Quite a few of my workers fell back into Neutral territory while being under my leadership, but thankfully none of them fell into the Unhappy category.
To mitigate any problems, I had the beasts and Isobel stay with me in my room, which thankfully was large enough to accommodate all of us. Isobel was less than pleased, but understood she'd have to make due until I could get her some proper accommodations.
Though she certainly preferred the bed I procured from the mine we just raided over the beds of hay that she and her sisters had back at the Coven. The beasts showed no reaction other than obedience to my demands, but I knew eventually that I needed to prepare them a hospitable home. I can't just keep every werebeast I tame in my room, it's not nearly big enough and I'm uneasy leaving the beasts inside with the helpless miners.
I've already got Gavnuk and some of his boys to start making a hut in the mountains for Isobel. I was told it will be done within the next two weeks, which surprised me a great deal. I thought houses took much longer than that to build, but then again, the hut for Isobel would be much smaller than the homes back on earth. Once they're done with that, maybe I can see them marking out some kind of huge plot of land for my beasts to reside in.
In the meantime, I've been getting some magicka lessons from Isobel for the past two days. I expressed my desire to learn whatever spell it was she offhandedly implied that allowed her and her sisters to communicate from large distances, and she agreed to teach me under the promise that I'd get her some goat hearts for her rituals. Once some wild mountain goats "volunteered," her tutelage began.
The spell acted like a bastardized version of true telepathy. I could send my thoughts directly to another person I established a magickal connection with, but the magicka required to cast it increased the longer the message was. Also, it's not an open channel that allows us to send messages back and forth, I have to recast the spell every time I want to send a message, and whoever I'm communicating with also needs to know the spell if I want to talk with them, otherwise it'll just be me talking to them instead of with them.
Of course, I haven't actually practiced the spell yet. In order to not butcher the process, Isobel stressed that I needed to understand the mechanics of the spell before attempting to cast it, otherwise my message can be picked up by anyone, or anything, that has the capacity to use magicka, including any unsuspecting Daedra.
I did not want to know what would happen if I accidentally projected my thoughts into the mind of a Daedra or Dremora.
Isobel had denied my request to teach anyone else other than the mages she already agreed to meet with on occasion back at guruks, but did not care whether or not I decided to teach anyone else the spell once I could safely do it myself. It seems like despite her eagerness to see humans again, she had no desire to meet them, or at the very least not so many.
Mama bear growled in annoyance, it would seem that I had ceased my scratches once I had let my mind wander. I laughed lightly as I resumed my head scratches, her growls rapidly turning pleased.
'Valga's wedding is the day after tomorrow,' I mused. I'm still going, I promised I would and I don't intend to back on my word, reputation loss or not be damned. Valga was still a friend, and that meant something. Though, I don't have any clothing outside my armor and miner's wear, I'll have to go into town tomorrow and get something nice.
"It's getting pretty late, I'll have to leave soon." Smiling softly, I gave one last smooth stroke against her chocolate colored fur. Lifting my hand despite the protesting whine.
"I know girl, I'm sad too."
She huffed and looked away dismissively.
"Tsk tsk, who woulda thought that a bear was such a tsundere~," I teased, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to make more time to visit now that I know where you live."
Standing up, her large figure loomed over me, dropping down on top of me just as fast as she stood. Trapping me under her as she got all nice and cozy over my lap, her body pressing into my chest, forcing my back firmly into the tree I rested against.
"Fine." I huffed, "Clearly, I'm not going anywhere. I'll stay for a bit longer, but I am leaving before nightfall."
I did not end up leaving before nightfall.
(Babette)
It took a bit of time getting to Falkreath from Markarth, but being able to turn into a bat and fly certainly made the trip much faster than just walking all the way. Those forsworn were annoying though.
Were, being the operative word.
"Ugh," I whined as I walked down the road to Falkreath, the sun shining between the gently swaying leaves of the trees high above me, "Definitely the worst blood I've ever tasted, and I've had rat blood before!"Seriously, their blood tasted awful, especially those 'briarhearts' or whatever those savages called them.
"Wish they had a Dunmer or two," I mused. "I could use the spice, much better than those Altmers. Their blood is a bit too rich, though the thickness isn't unwelcome."
I passed through the gates of Falkreath, the guard's too engrossed in whatever conversation the two were having as I strolled into the bustling streets, now just a child amongst a sea of people.
I weaved between people with expertise, bumping into a few on purpose, apologizing with practiced innocence. I chuckled, discreetly putting my stolen Septims away safely under my dress. Granted, I was no thieves' guild operative, but I could snag a pouch or two from the unsuspecting.
Twenty minutes later I had procured a room at the Dead Man's Drink, with quite the hefty discount. Being a poor innocent child would do that when I 'let it slip' that my parents were dead, which was true. They died nearly one hundred years ago.
Shame I can't go back to the guild, my coffin is so much more comfortable than these wool beds. But these are the sacrifices I make when I accept a job, as I plopped onto my newly acquired bed. Thonar gave me no time limit for the job, but I'd rather get this over with as soon as possible so I can go back and spend time with my spiders.
"Well," I muttered, "If this silver miner really is a plan to decrease the influence the Silver Blood family has, then just asking around will yield me nothing." No adult would ever divulge that information to a child, "Guess I'll have to keep an ear out for gossip, maybe that'll get me something."
Stepping out of the building, I briefly had to pause on the porch as a large Nord in hunters gear passed by with a gaggle of people behind him that took up the whole road, all looking worse for wear. But all had a glimmer of disbelief in their eyes, as if they couldn't comprehend they were here-
'Ah,' I realized, 'Captives most likely, that Nord must have freed them or something. An adventurer perhaps?'
The citizens of Falkreath made way as Nord and crew walked through the streets, their destination likely leading them to the Jarl who would no doubt have to deal with getting these people home now that they were freed. Once they left, the people continued with their routines, but now questions and whispers filled the streets as they stared at their backs.
"Who were those people..?"
"Doesn't that guy look familiar, the one in the front?"
"Isn't that the guy who hangs out with Valga and Lod?"
"I recognize that guy! He helped me carry my firewood back home!"
"Yeah right Holf, you say that about every interesting person. Just last week you said that merchant from Hammerfell fucked your wife."
"Fuck you Geld that did happen!"
A bunch of noisy, useless questions.
"Hey…" I heard a woman whisper to her friend next to me, "Isn't that the guy who leaves Amelie's shop once a week?"
The woman laughed lightly, "Yeah, lucky girl. If only I was a few years younger…"
"Meredith!" the other one gasped, amused, "You're so terrible!"
The now aptly named Meredith shook her head, giggling, "I'm just teasing, Frigg. Besides, he's just a miner."
The other woman shook her head, "With that attitude it's a wonder how you landed your husband."
I ignored the rest of their useless conversation and filed away the one useful gleam I got out of those women as I walked onto the road. It would seem I now have a potential clue into my search, whoever that man is works at a mine. I can only hope that he works at the mine I'm searching for.
I spent the rest of the day trying to find the man in question, but he managed to evade me, somehow. Annoyed at my lack of success, I went back to my room at the inn for a night's sleep. No matter how much I wish I could stay active at night I needed to keep up appearances. I settled in for the night as I pulled the blanket over my small body.
…Man, I miss my coffin.
(-)
The day after yielded me nothing. I spent most of the day around the entrance. I saw the man enter but he hadn't returned at all. There was a bit of buzz going around, but I ignored it all. I doubt it was important enough and I had to focus on the mission.
Regardless, it was only the day after that, that I encountered something…interesting.
I was attempting to stake out the entrance again when the local children apparently decided I was the perfect person to join them for their little games. Loathed as I was to accept, I ultimately decided to join them because when I initially denied it, the little parasites whined and decided to not leave me alone. And to keep up appearances of course!
With gritted teeth I sucked in my pride as I played some game that had revolved around someone being "it," and their goal was to touch a new person and then that new person would become the person toucher.
I needed a different descriptor, that sounded wrong even in my head.
Other children inevitably joined in on the little game. But, more interestingly, some of the children I recognized from the crowd I saw also wanted to join in. Before I could question them, the leader of the group of kids that roped me into this accepted without missing a beat and the game commenced once again. I groaned and continued this game of chase.
Thankfully, their small physiques could not keep up such a strenuous game for long. But not me, I was not like these little goblins.
'Yeah,' I huffed, certainly not out of breath as I stood amongst the collapsed children who heaved in large gulps of air. 'I'm not like the rest of you'
"Hey," The lead child said, I never bothered to learn his name. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen you two before. Where in Falkreath do you two live?"
The smaller of the two new kids laughed, "We're actually not from Falkreath, We're from Whiterun!"
A chorus of excited 'wows' sounded out. And then the questions spewed forth as the new kids were suddenly surrounded.
"From Whiterun?!"
"I heard that Whiterun was really big, is that true?"
"What's it like?"
"Have you ever seen the Companions?!"
"What're your names?"
"How long are you staying? We should play more until you leave!"
I counted to twenty in my head slowly, to drown out the annoying noise they all made. Only when I had fully calmed down did I start to listen in as the new kids answered the questions as best as they could.
"…we're actually here waiting for the carts to come by. The lady at the Jarl's home said that it would take. Uhhh.." the smaller one trailed off, uncertain.
"A couple of days Birger" The taller one said calmly.
"That's right!" The now named Birger, exclaimed. "Thanks Gorm!"
"Mm." Gorm hummed.
One of the Falkreath girls raised her hand, as if asking a question. "How come you guys are here?"
Birger dithered, suddenly much more reserved from his otherwise rather boisterous personality. Gorm, noticing the smaller child's distress, showed a surprising amount of maturity and took over speaking.
"We were captured by bandits along with mother and father, with a bunch of other people too. We were only able to escape because this large guy came and busted out of our cage."
Birger perked up, suddenly excited again. "That's right! This guy came in and busted us out! Smashed the cage open with an axe!"
"You're lying!" someone cried out.
Birger shook his head rapidly, "Nuh uh! I'm telling the truth!"
"Whoa…that guy must be strong!"
Birger nodded excitedly. "The strongest! And! And he had these two huge wolves following him around!"
Gorm nodded along with him, much more reserved but the excitement he exuded was clear if you watched his eyes as they shone.
The children gasped in amazement.
Birger wrinkled his nose a bit, a frown on his face. "There was also this old lady with feathers or something. She didn't interact with any of us though, but our parents and the other adults seemed scared for some reason."
I raised an eyebrow, an old woman with feathers? That sounds awfully like a Hagraven.
The girl next to me turned to look at me, "What's a Hagraven?" She asked me, confused.
I blinked; I must have spoken out loud. I turned to the child and decided to indulge in her curiosity. "An adult who does a ritual and gets immense power."
Her curiosity satiated, the girl turned back towards her friends and continued asking questions to the new children. But I hardly paid attention as my mind whirled with the new information I gleamed. So, this Nord miner had two tamed wolves and a Hagraven? The wolves aren't hard to believe, people have been doing that for ages, but to earn the companionship of a Hagraven is no small feat. Something unheard of in my life outside of the Forsworn.
'Could this Nord actually be a Breton Forsworn?' I mused, 'Given the presence of the Hagraven, it's not impossible to assume. But what do the Forsworn have to gain by hanging around Falkrea-'
That's when it hit me. That Forsworn must have been the one to set up that mining operation to undercut the sales of the Silver Blood, the family keeping the entirety of Markarth as an economic powerhouse. By undercutting their silver sales, the Forsworn gets rid of the only major lifeline that Markarth has. Without the silver trade monopoly, the people of Markarth will leave in search of better opportunities for cash, that's the only reason people go there in the first place.
Once the people are gone, the Forsworn can swoop in and deal with the few remaining guards and stragglers who refuse to leave. They'd be severely under man powered and lack the equipment to deal with them; the city would be unable to afford equipping their soldiers with their usual top of the line weapons and armor.
They're playing the long game, a dreadfully slow long game to destroy the financial powerhouse the silver blood have so that when: not if, when, they attack Markarth again, it'll be a massacre.
'That's…genius.' I thought with no small amount of awe in my head, 'to think that those savages actually had the capacity to develop such a clever plan. And Thonar is none the wiser to their true goal! How lucky for him that his greed and ruthlessness as a business owner demands him to get rid of the competition, otherwise the scheme might have worked.'
I left quickly, unnoticed as the children clambered around the two children from Whiterun. Despite the…situation I was dragged into, I cannot say it wasn't fruitful. This new information requires some more meticulous planning, I cannot ambush him in his home like I originally planned, if that man has the help of a Hagraven I cannot get close. I have no doubt I could deal with her if I caught her off guard, but as loathe as I am to admit, a single fireball from a Hagraven could reduce me to ash. And I will not die just to see Molag Bal, or Sithis. Whichever claims my soul first, I assume.
No, I'll need to ambush the man either on the road to Falkreath, or on the road out. I know which one he enters from, I could stake out the area ahead, but that leaves the unnecessary risk of random people getting in the way. No, it would be much easier to ambush the man leaving, preferably at night so that there's less of a chance to run into any travelers or guards.
I grimaced, that means I need to stay here until I see the man again, and I have no idea for how long! I shivered, gods above I hope those children don't find me again. If I have to play another one of their stupid games I might just drink one or two of them dry, damn the consequences!
I blinked, huh. That's more aggressive than I usually am…must be the lack of good blood I've had recently. I licked my lips, maybe after I kill the target I'll drink him of every last drop.
Afterall, Breton blood is such a rich, frosty treat for warm spring days. Though I prefer Nord blood for the summer, the cold Nordic taste really lessens the pain from that accursed sun.
(-)
It has been a couple of days since my target was spotted, and he only showed up once. Unfortunately, he had only stayed until the afternoon, with a coat hanger with a sheet running down it, covering whatever clothing he had purchased from the shop.
Why a Forsworn savage wanted actual clothes, I would never know, but I knew it was expensive. And from there, I can extrapolate that it must be a part of whatever plan they have. They wouldn't just spend good money like that all willy nilly for no reason.
During my morning stake out, I learned that the keeper of the Inn I was staying at was getting married, and that it now made sense why all those people from earlier dressed in high quality garbs were pouring into the gate. Valga, the Inn keeper's name, lamented to herself that she didn't expect so many people to come, and I could scarcely blame her. There were at least twenty people coming to this wedding, all for her? She must be well connected-
…The target was going to her wedding, wasn't he? A well connected Inn keeper would of course be a prime target to get buddy-buddy with, he must have seen that the moment he laid his eyes on her. And now, all of her high profile connections were coming, a golden opportunity to mingle with the high society to gather valuable information for his people. Damn, this man's clearly a master manipulator to the highest degree, I'll need to be extremely careful.
I watched as the Large Forsworn made his way through the gates hours later dressed in what I saw a common aristocrat wear, he fiddled with the collar as if it was too tight on his frame. To be fair, it was. Clearly, he had ordered a size too small, as the fabric stretched across his body, accenting his muscles almost like the fabric itself was his skin. The Man's nervous frame (no doubt from being alone from his brethren) bled away as people came up and greeted him with smiles. His sudden relaxation was so convincing, that if she didn't know any better, would have assumed he was actually happy that everyone was coming up to greet him. But she knew the truth, he couldn't stand being here. Why else would he be so nervous before coming in?
She smiled slightly as he laughed and amused the children that gathered around him, their mothers laughing as they talked with the large man as he distracted their kids. It seems like he has a soft spot for children then, good. Her usual methods should do the job just fine then.
She watched him walk off into the city as he waved goodbye to the people, a spring in his step that wasn't there before. She stared, marveled at how fast he was able to get into character so soon after being caught off guard from the people.
'Damn,' she thought as the man walked further down the road. 'Gabriella could learn a thing or two from that guy. Even she can't fake emotions that well.'
Now though, it was the most boring part of the job. Babette sighed as she got up and followed many paces behind the man. They traveled for a while until he got to a large building, the Mara temple that Falkreath used for weddings. He walked inside, while she made herself scarce and hid between two buildings a ways off to the side, so she could see who came and went. She sighed as she hunkered down, prepared to spend hours waiting for the wedding to end so she could finally finish this damned contract.
(-)
Late afternoon turned to night before she saw the target again, leaving with a couple of the other high end guests as he laughed at something one of the men said. She stood up, and once the coast was clear, turned into a bat and flew overhead. Watching as her target walked closer and closer to the cart outside the city. For a horrid moment, she thought he was leaving with them, which would mean she'd need to travel even more.
Thankfully, he just talked for a few more minutes before waving them goodbye as the cart driver sped off, taking them back to wherever they were from. Once they were out of sight, the man sighed, likely relieved from having to put on an act again and started to walk to wherever his home was.
Plan in motion, she flew as fast as her vampiric bat wings could take her (which was pretty fast) and easily cleared a large distance between the two of them, near a fork in the road that would diverge going towards Markarth and the path that Hammerfell merchant's took. She traveled a bit more up the road and transformed back into a human.
Babette quickly got to work, getting her hands dirty as she grabbed a bunch of dirt and started rubbing it on her clothes, face, hair, and skin. Then, she grabbed the ends of her dress and ripped off portions of fabric, making it look like they ripped off from getting caught in something. She did the same with a portion of her sleeves, and then did a bunch of to build up a sweat and to appear out of breath.
'Perfect,' she mused.
She gazed down the road, and with her vampiric sight she caught the Nord coming down the twisting road from between the tree line. He'd be at the end of her road in approximately one minute. Pacing back a bit, she started running as fast as her child body could, down the road and braced herself as she "accidentally" crashed into his body.
She violently suppressed the urge to tense before impact, and let herself fall to the ground in a heap. Against a master manipulator like him, there could be no half assing any performance.
"Shit!" The target hissed, she raised her head with tears in her eyes, seeing his hand reaching down to help her up. She 'gingerly' raised her hand to his and let herself be marveled at how strong the man's grip was as he easily hauled her off the ground.
"By the gods above, what happened to you girl?" The man asked, concern tinging his voice.
'Too easy.' She inwardly smirked. Outwardly, her tears streamed down her face as she cried. Hiccupping for extra effect, she babbled out her cover.
"T-these men g-grabbed me and took me away from my mommy! I," she sniffled, a wet heave escaping her throat as she inhaled, "I managed to g-get away but they chased me so far!"
"Shhh…" the man comforted her, bringing her in for a hug to comfort her. "I'll get you home safe and sound, what's your name? I'll help you find your folks."
'Hook, line, and sinker.'
She sniffled, "Astrid, Mister." She'd never give him her true name, despite him about to die. Better to give him the most common girl's name in all of Skyrim than her own.
For the briefest of moments, she felt him tense, but that quickly went away as he picked her up like a child and started walking back the way he came, whistling a bit as he did.
'By Sithis this is humiliating, the things I do for the job.'
"Let's get you back home, Astrid."
She forced her body to relax, 'melting' in her savior's arms as her arms came and wrapped around his neck in a hug, her face buried between his shoulders and collared neck. Shame, she couldn't bite through the fabric, which meant plan B. A small knitting needle creeped up arm under her undamaged sleeve. A small smirk played on her lips even as her voice wavered as if she was still crying.
"T-thank you so much Mister!"
They walked slowly back towards Falkreath, giving her enough time to methodically move the needle further and further into her grasp to not alert him to her true intentions. She was almost there…she took in a big breath of satisfaction, another job well done. She wrinkled her nose, the man smelled bad. Just as bad as Arnbjorn actually-
She felt his grip on her get a little too tight. Curiously, her eyes slid from her slumped position to his face and stilled as she saw him staring right back.
"So," his voice rumbled, dangerously still, "They sent you?"
He knew.
She lashed out, needle in hand as she attempted to skewer his throat with the sharp end. His hand immediately caught the body of the needle and held it in place, his vice grip tightening around her as she struggled to get free.
"I thought this would have been harder," the man's voice mused as she struggled, "Though I guess you are stuck as a child, which means you're stuck with a child's strength, even if you trained to the maximum you have a hard limit compared to an adult like me."
She quickly transformed into a bat and used her improved agility to skillfully get out of danger just as his arms closed in around himself, likely trying to keep her trapped before she could escape. She flew around to his blind spot and transformed back midair, she dropped from the sky as she ripped out a viciously sharp dagger from under her dress and aimed to skewer him.
Almost as if he could see the future, he rolled forward and blew out a breath, a whistling sound escaping between his teeth.
Growling, her face scrunched up as her glowing eyes glared at his tense form. Stupid target and his stupid intellect, he couldn't have made this easy could he?!
A sudden weight slammed into her back, pinning her onto the hard stone road as her head crashed into it. Dazed, she tried to get up only to see she couldn't. She turned her head, and was paralyzed as a fucking werewolf pinned her to the ground.
"Who would have thought that taking you both with me would prove to be so fruitful." The man mused, "to think my lack of trust of you two being alone around my workers proved to be so beneficial?"
Both?
A snarling further to her left alerted her to a second werewolf coming out of the trees.
"The strongest! And! And he had these two huge wolves following him around!"
Those words from that child echoed in her head in a sudden burst of clarity. She growled in annoyance, that stupid brat! He didn't have two big wolves, he had two fucking werewolves!
She laid still on the ground, she wouldn't dare turn into a bat in this position, the beast's paw would slam into her faster than she could fly away, and as a smaller creature that amount of force would surely kill her.
Her head tilted upwards as the sound of the man's steps drew near. She snarled, even as the man stopped right in front of her and crouched down, squatting as his eyes stared coldly into her own.
"Now," the man mused. "What to do with you, I wonder?"
Name: Ragnar
Race: Nord
Level: 15
EXP: 705/ 800
Health: 260 Magicka: 370 Stamina: 250
STR: 18 (21)
INT: 27 (37)
END: 22 (26)
DEX: 22 (25)
SP: 0
PP: 3
Land Controlled:
Falkreath: (›)
[+3 STR, +4 END, +10 INT, +3 DEX]
People under your leadership:
Happy: 28
Neutral: 30
Unhappy: 15
Jesus christ I wrote that beginning portion at the beginning of February, it's been just a little over a month since my last update, I'm sorry guys! So much fucking work to do, so many tests to study for. I'll make sure that the next update doesn't take nearly as long, I'll aim for one to two weeks.