Here's the second chapter of my Morrowind adventure (obviously lol). I had originally intended it to cover all of Skylar's time in Addamasartus, but realized that it would be a bit more than I had expected. So instead I just let Skylar get started. Enjoy!
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Morrowind: Into Addamasartus
Skylar stepped out of the Census and Excise Office into the humid, salty air of Seyda Neen, looking at the journal that the Imperial (that's what the humans in this land were called, apparently) Sellus Gravius had given him. Following Gravius' advice, he opened the journal and took out a small quill and inkbottle for writing entries, jotting down the instructions for finding the man Caius Cosades. When he finished writing, Skylar let the ink dry for a moment, then carefully closed the book and placed all of his journal amenities into his bag of swag.
Now that he thought about it, the sack was already rather full, and much of its contents were not necessarily needed. He needed to find a place to sell some of his stuff, or it would get to be a real bother soon. Skylar turned around and immediately bumped into a small, elfish man, causing them both to fall over.
"Would you watch where you're going?" the man spat bitterly.
"Well excuse me!" Skylar retorted. "I'm sorry that I was a bit preoccupied with trying to figure out how to start myself off here on Morrowind!"
Immediately Skylar saw the man flinch back just a bit, and both quickly became ashamed of their quick tempers and hot words.
"No. I'm the one who should be sorry," the small man said. "I'm just in a bit of a grumpy mood, you see. A family heirloom of mine has gone missing, an Engraved Ring of Healing, and I can't find it anywhere!"
An engraved ring? Skylar remembered the one he had found in the barrel in the Census and Excise Office's courtyard. Reaching into his bag, Skylar found the ring and presented it to the elf, saying, "I don't know if this is what you're looking for, but it's a ring, and it's engraved."
The elf's face lit up as soon as he saw the small object. "You found it! Amazing! Thank you, thank you!" This guy was getting really chummy, really fast. And his voice did NOT help either. It was probably one of the most annoying voices that Skylar had ever had the displeasure to listen to. "You are now my favorite friend. I'll be sure to tell the others, especially my friend Arrille who runs the tradehouse here. Go see him, he'll be happy to see you now!" The small man turned to walk away, but suddenly stopped and turned around. "By the way, my name's Fargoth; Bosmer, commoner, and now your friend. Safe journeys… uh…"
"Skylar," the young man finished.
"Well then, safe journeys, Skylar!" And with that, Fargoth strutted off into the little town. But some of the things he had said left a bad taste in Skylar's mouth. First of all, the people of this world were just a bit too amicable. Skylar had barely even gone anywhere, and he already had a new 'favorite friend.' And furthermore, how would this Arrille know about him? Wherever Fargoth was headed, it did not like there was a tradehouse; only a lighthouse and some lean-to shanties. Whatever, a tradehouse meant money, and that is what Skylar needed right now.
That was when Skylar realized that he had no idea where the tradehouse was. "Damn," he thought to himself. "I should've asked that Fargoth guy when I had the chance." Looking around Skylar quickly spotted another human, another Imperial. This one had red hair pulled back into a kind of Civil War period ponytail and a kind face.
Skylar decided that the best thing to do would be to confront the man directly. If he was going to make friends here, he was going to make them with other humans. Sure, he had played plenty of games with elves and other races in them, but he had never thought he would meet anyone like that in person. He walked up to the red headed man and introduced himself quickly and bluntly, "Hello there! My name is Skylar. I just got here, and wondered if you could give me a hand."
The man was not expecting a sudden conversation, and took a couple of seconds to make sense of the situation. "Well hello there, Skylar," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Vodunius Nuccius, commoner." Skylar decided to take note of how people introduced themselves on Morrowind: name, then social status. "What do you need, friend?"
"Well, I was told there was a tradehouse run by a man named Arrille around here, and I was wondering if you could tell me where it is."
Vodunius quickly told Skylar where the tradehouse was, which was not so hard to find, and even threw in a hint about something called a 'Silt Strider' and told Skylar to tell the caravaner, Darvame Hleran, that it was Vodunius that told him to see her. Thanking Mr. Nuccius, Skylar quickly made his way to Arrille's Tradehouse.
It was much better looking inside than out, to say the least. The proprietor, however, was not to Skylar's taste. Arrille was yet another elf-man, but much taller than the Bosmer named Fargoth. Even stranger was his yellow-greenish skin and almond shaped eyes with piercing yellow irises. As soon as Skylar got close to the man, he began to speak, as if on cue, "Welcome to Arrille's Tradehouse. I'm Arrille, publican and proprietor. Don't take what doesn't belong to you." Well that was obvious, that would be theft. And what good thief would steal in plain sight? One that would not get caught.
Skylar reeled for a moment as he realized what he was thinking. A good thief would be able to steal in plain sight without being caught? That was not him… or was it? Before Skylar could make heads or tails of his own mental epiphany, Arrille began speaking again, "You're a new face here. If you want to buy from me, you have to barter. If you want a little advice—free to new customers—just ask. Would you like to hear about our most popular potions? Our most popular scrolls?"
"Geez," Skylar said after Arrille had finished. "Think you've rehearsed that enough?"
"Why thank you, Skylar. I'm glad some people notice the effort I put into running my establishment!" Skylar was amazed that Arrille did already know his name. That was just a little freaky. "And since you've been so kind in helping my friend, Fargoth, you get a discount. Small, but noticeable." Looks like Fargoth was good for something after all.
"You said I have to barter, right?" Arrille nodded his head in answer. "Well, I've only really had to barter once before. Where I'm from, most people have a set price for their stuff, but I'll do what I can." Skylar looked around a bit and saw some rather tough looking boots. They were made of brown leather and came up to his knees, with laces that went all the way up the boot. "How much for these?"
Arrille looked at them a moment before responding, "Hmmm. The netch leather boots, eh? Well normally they would sell for twenty gold, but I'll discount you for, say, eighteen."
Skylar was stunned. He knew that leather was expensive, but eighteen gold pieces? That was outrageous. "Well since we're bartering," Skylar began. "How about I offer you some of the item I don't think I'll be needing." Arrille's face lit up at the proposition of a counter offer. Skylar started off by pulling out a silverware plate and the small green stone he had found back at the Census and Excise Office and placed them on the table.
"Well!" Arrille said, smiling. "That will cover the cost of the boots just fine! But perhaps I could interest you in something of better quality?"
That Arrille knew what he was doing, already going for the up-sale. "Go on."
"I have here a lovely set of chitin boots. Twice as strong as those netch boots, and only half the weight!" So he had buttered Skylar up with the high points, but what about the cost? "And you only need to pay me those two items and seven gold."
Skylar had begun to notice how liberal Arrille was being with the local currency. Perhaps it was not worth as much as he thought. But still, he did not have that much actual gold, mostly items, and seven gold would still be a large cut in his budget for one item. "How about this, Arrille. I see that you've got some matching gear over there," Skylar pointed to a vest-like object that matched the netch leather boots. "Perhaps I could get the first pair of boots, and whatever those are over there, for the same price as the chitin ones."
He could see that Arrille was thinking the offer over. "Or," the elf continued, "I could offer you the chitin boots and the cuirass that goes with it." And with that Arrille pulled out a vest-like object that was made of the same material as the white chitin boots Arrille was trying to push on him. "I'll admit, it is a tad expensive for a new outlander like you, but you have more items in that bag that I'm sure you'll be able to part with, right?"
Skylar did not like the inflections that the term 'outlander' was said with, but continued to haggle instead of focus on breaking his stride. "And how much more expensive is a piece of equipment like that? I could probably by that netch, uh, cuirass and the leggings to match for the same price." Arrille was getting a bit flustered. Apparently he was not used to people putting up this much resistance, so Skylar pressed on. "I'll tell you what, buddy. You give me the leather boots and," he pointed to some chain mail folded neatly on a table behind him, "that fancy chain mail, and I'll give you these four silverware plates, the silverware pitcher, this book called 'The Firmament,' and twenty gold." Arrille was definitely at his breaking point. Skylar had pushed so much stuff on the elf so quickly that he was having difficulty adding up the cost.
"F-fine!" Arrille finally conceded. "You've got yourself a deal. I'll admit, you drive a hard bargain, but you've convinced me. The netch leather boots and imperial chain mail cuirass are yours, and for being the first person in a long time to barter with me so well, I'll even give you these!" Arrille reached beneath the counter and pulled out a helmet and a large backpack. "This coif is the complement to your chain mail, and this bag will hold your items and equipment better than that old sack of yours."
That was unexpected. "Thanks, Arrille," Skylar said, putting on his new boots. "Now I'll be ready if I'm attacked by anything!"
"Well if that's the way you feel," Arrille said, catching Skylar's attention yet again. "Then maybe you could go handle those smugglers that have holed themselves up in Addamasartus."
"Add a whatsit now?"
"Addamasartus," Arrille corrected. It's a cave just north of the Silt Strider dock to the north of Seyda Neen. Just go across the bridge here in town and turn right as you get past Eldafire's house. Go across the path and past the giant boulder and you'll see the cave's entrance. Eldafire, that paranoid woman, has been complaining for weeks about them. She won't give the guards a rest. Granted, it should be their job to go clear that place out on there own, but unless someone with authority in the Legion tells them to do it it's like training a Guar to guard your front yard, but not teaching it how to attack! I swear she gives us Altmer a bad name!"
"Altmer?" Skylar questioned.
"Yes, I am an Altmer. We Altmer, or High Elves as most others call us, have the most civilized culture in all of Tamriel. Even the Tamrielic tongue is based on our speech and writing, and most of the Empire's arts, crafts, and sciences are derived from High Elven traditions. We are gifted in the arcane arts, and our sublime physical nature makes us more resistant to disease than any of the lesser races."
Skylar had had just about enough of this man's rambling. A den of murderous smugglers sounded better than this. In fact… "Y'know what?" Skylar stated. "I think I will go and kill those guys." Anything was better than listening to Arrille for another second… well, anything except Fargoth. No wonder those two were friends. Pulling out his dagger Skylar turned to leave, but Arrille stopped him yet again.
"You're not seriously going into Addamasartus with that as your weapon, are you?" Skylar just stared at the elf, who then let out a sigh and reached beneath his counter yet again. "Here," he said as he pulled out a small sword that was roughly the same color as the chitin armor. "I'll sell you this chitin short sword for that rusty old iron dagger and five gold. It's in perfect condition, I assure you, and you'll get much farther with this than with that."
"A sword sounds good to me!" Skylar exclaimed. If he was going to fight bad guys, he needed more than a knife. Though killing a bunch of bad guys with only a knife sounded a lot more badass than with a sword. "Give me that leather shield and you get the other silverware plate."
"Deal," Arrille said, and handed over both the sword and the shield in exchange for the dagger, a silverware platter, and five gold.
Putting on the rest of his newly acquired armor, Skylar suddenly felt a little more safe, though the chain mail, for some reason he couldn't explain, was not as comforting as he thought it would be. But it was probably nothing more than him not being used to wearing armor. With that, he set off for Addamasartus. As he walked through the town, people turned and looked at him, judging him before he could even speak. The guards gave a more odd look, as if they were going to address him more formally, but then their expressions quickly changed when they saw that he was just another person.
The cave was not hard to find, just as Arrille had said, but why anyone would actually have a door leading into a cave, Skylar did not know. Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself. He was about to go into a cave and kill somebody. No joke. Sure, he had killed people in video games before, but it was just that. In a game. He had never been faced with actually stabbing someone before. Finally gaining his composure and courage, Skylar opened the old wooden door as silently as possible and slipped inside.
As he stepped into the cave, he closed the door behind him. It was a lot brighter than expected, but he quickly noticed that a fire that was lit just below him caused this. Next to the fire he saw a boat and another Dunmer, this one a woman. And she did not look friendly. Well, less inviting than the other dark elf he had already met anyways. Skylar decided that he would rather put off any confrontation as long as possible and crouched down, drawing his sword. He crept along the wall of the cave until he got behind her. How the woman had not noticed him, he was not sure. But he did not care either. Slowly he started creeping up behind her, and when he felt he was close enough he dashed towards the woman… who nimbly jumped aside just in the nick of time, causing Skylar to stumble and fall flat on his face.
"I was wondering when you were going to come at me, fetcher," she said calmly. If she were a snake, venom would have been dripping off of her tongue. "I didn't really think that anybody, even a stupid northern man like you, would actually try something like that. It's disappointing really. I was hoping to have a bit of—OW!" The woman had not paid enough attention to Skylar has he had reached for a rock, which found its way to her exposed forehead.
The would-be adventurer took his time getting up, dusted himself off, and began to address the woman, "You just made three mistakes: one, you led me on, and I hate it when women lead me on; two, you called me something that didn't sound too nice, and I hate it when people call me names; three, you're one of those bad guys who won't shut the hell up and fight, and I hate those kind of bad guys. So really, thank you." The woman held her bleeding forehead looking confused at what Skylar was saying. "It makes it a lot easier for me to kill you now."
Skylar charged again, expecting her to do like last time and side step, which he was prepared for. He was not, however, prepared for what she actually did, which was pull out a dagger and parry his attack. "You are foolish if you think you can kill me with such a simple tactic!" she sneered.
"Well let me know how that rock to the face worked out for you," Skylar retorted. The taunt worked, and this time she charged. Skylar easily blocked the enraged stab and shoved his sword forward, eyes closed, hoping he hit her.
He felt something slouch onto his shoulder and something warm, wet, and sticky begin to trickle onto his right hand. Opening his eyes, he saw that it was the Dunmer woman leaning on his shoulder, and realized that his small sword was sticking out of her back. Skylar let go of the sword and pushed the woman away, staring at the blood on his hand and letting her fall on her back. She was still alive.
"I'm your first, aren't I?" the woman asked, catching a shocked Skylar by surprise. His expression was all she needed. "Heh, I never thought it would be some boy who killed me. Always thought it would be my partners. Remember this feeling, boy! Never forget it! I may be an assassin, but I never did. Let this be a lesson for you. Always respect what you kill, whether it's a scrib or a politician." And with that bit of advice, she died.
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Le Gasp! The main character has problems killing! Now I know that even though it seems like Skylar didn't have that hard of a time killing her it's still better than how some people write. I've seen it before where a main character just goes and kills someone and doesn't think a thing of it, and I've seen it with character's that've never killed before, too. This is one of the things I always have to look out for, because I tend to do that myself, and always end up kicking myself for it. So I made sure to add some internal conflict to the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and keep on the watch for chapter three, Morrowind: Freedom.