Morrowind: To Pelagiad We Go

Three days had passed since Skylar had cleaned out the bandits in Addamasartus. The people in the town of Seyda Neen were grateful that someone had finally taken care of it, but were divided between their thankfulness for his deed and dislike for his status as an outlander.

Nevertheless, he was rewarded by Sellus Gravius on behalf of the Empire in Morrowind, and Skylar decided to use the money to help the slaves that he had freed, buying each of them a new set of clothing and some armor and weapons from Arrille's. He figured that he owed them that much for their help in taking down the bandits.

"Hey," Baadargo said as they all sat at a table in Arrille's, a jug of sujamma in the middle of the four. "Where do you plan to go after this?"

Skylar had been rather content here for the time being. He had also forgotten about his orders to visit Caius Cosades, and the Khajiit's question reminded him. Setting down his cup, Skylar answered, "Well, I suppose I'm heading to Balmora. When I first got here I was pretty much immediately told to go find some guy named Caius Cosades there and report to him. Other than that I've not really got anything planned."

Baadargo sat back a little and nodded. "Yes. Balmora is good. Baadargo knows friends there. Good friends. They will help Baadargo, and Baadargo will help them help you."

Skylar was not overly sure about the cat's idea. They were probably all Khajiit, like Baadargo, and he was really beginning to feel the need for human company. Not that there were not any humans around Seyda Neen. In fact, he had started to get along well with the woman who worked behind the counter, Elone. Granted, she nearly knocked his head off when he first called her an Imperial, and followed up with a full lecture on all of the human races in Tamriel and their differences, but after that she was pleasant company. But most regarded him with quiet suspicion, and tended to keep any and every conversation short and to the point. Still, if there was someone open to helping him, Skylar was not about to disagree. The more help he got, the better.

"So," he finally said. "How are we going to get there? I heard that the Silt Strider here has a route directly to Balmora, and we've got the funds to make there together." Skylar had also found out that the giant flea thing was the Silt Strider Vodunius had told him about. "I say the quicker we get there, the better, because I don't personally feel like trekking through the swamp for several days and then going over steep hills just to make it to this town."

"We could guide you easily," Okaw chimed in. "We of the swamp know how. You would be safe, friend."

"No," Baadargo said abruptly. "Too many dangers in the swamp. That is where the diseased creatures go, especially the Cliffracers. I would rather get to Balmora without the Hell-Joint. I also don't want to ride the Strider. We should travel east and north, over the ridge and into the inner Ascadian-Isles region, to Pelagiad."

"I've been meaning to ask," Skylar said as the Khajiit finished. "Melar mentioned Pelagiad as well; and that's where they also took him right? What's Pelagiad like?"

"It is a small Imperial colony," Banalz answered. "Small farms, small town, big fort."

"Yes," Baadargo confirmed. "And a tavern where we can rent proper beds, and will not have to invade other's houses. But we will not stay long." He seemed to draw back into himself just a bit and shivered. "There is someone that we should avoid if possible. That someone is nothing but trouble."

"Well," Skylar said quickly. "I suppose we go to Pelagiad then. I'd rather risk a run-in with this someone than a diseased animal that I've never heard of."

"Chances are we will run into Cliffracers no matter which way we take." Baadargo said without any enthusiasm. "They are spread all across Morrowind. We will just be less likely to find a diseased one. And the kagouti and nix-hounds are also more easily avoidable."

"Then I still say we go that way. It's probably, what, a day away at the most?"

"Yes, if we leave early." Okaw said.

"So we should leave now?" All three beast-men were surprised by Skylar's question. "It's still fairly early from the position of the sun; probably no later than nine or ten. If we travel fast and don't have any delays we should make it by nightfall." He had already pulled his map out of his pack and was pointing at it.

"Yes," Baadargo confirmed.

Skylar nodded and removed his quill and ink from his bag, opened the bottle, and began drawing a path from Seyda Neen to Pelagiad. After he finished his task, he finished his cup of sujamma, corked his inkbottle, and placed all of his belongings back into the sack, then stood up. "Let's get going," was all he said.

The truth was that Skylar could not wait to get to this town. It was an Imperial colony, which meant humans; people who would be more accepting of him. That was incentive enough to get there as soon as possible. He did not even care if any of his companions followed him or not, he would make it there with or without them.

"Hey," a man in fur armor said, stepping in front of Skylar. "Would you like to help a fellow Nord down on his—OOF!"

"Outta my way, Erik the Red," Skylar demanded, pushing the much larger man back into a wall. "I've got places to be."

Outside of the town, the party of four had begun to head for the ridge that separated the coast from the inland parts of Vvardenfell. All three of the former slaves had given Addamasartus a wide berth as they passed by, and Skylar thought back to why they had really remained in town those three days. He had felt the need to explore the whole of they cave, and had found more treasure that the smugglers had either hidden, or had been there before the smugglers. That and they had all decided to clean out and sell the smugglers' stash, keeping bits of it for themselves, like the iron shield and pauldrons that Skylar had found and begun wearing. He had also been taught about the only two drugs that existed in Morrowind, Skooma and Moon Sugar; and that it all needed to be kept away from Khajiit, which Banalz and Okaw made sure of.

Skylar had also gone out one night by himself, taking the body of Mulvisie out and burying behind the lighthouse in Seyda Neen, even making a headstone for her that said only, "Respect what you kill."

Up ahead of the party was the long ridge of foothills that they would need to cross to reach the inner parts of Vvardenfell. "Now is where we need to begin to watch, friend," Baadargo warned. All of them kept their eyes peeled as they made their way up the incline. Here and there rocks came loose due to gravity, and dry grass rustled. The further they went, the quieter the sea behind them became, until at last they were in the foothills proper, and the sounds of the Sea of Ghosts was like a distant memory.

All around them the earth was cracked and grey, a startling contrast to the sickly green swamp that they had just left behind. A short distance ahead something began rustling in the bushes, and the group stopped, staring intently at the direction of the disturbance. A large purple insect scuttled out of the brush and towards the travelers, stopping suddenly at random intervals to lift its head, let out a screeching sound, and then thump its tail before continuing on.

"Scrib," Okaw said, easing the tension. "It is completely harmless, if you do not bother it. Otherwise it will defend itself by releasing a paralytic toxin."

"On the other hand," Banalz continued. "The jelly is quite good for food. It is easy to harvest, and will last. And Scribs are easy to kill."

"Well I guess the risk is worth the reward, then," Skylar said, and, taking care to stay behind the insect, quickly dispatched of it with one swipe of his blade. "There. Now, can you show me how to get the jelly out? I like the way it tastes on a piece of warm bread."

No sooner had Skylar finished speaking when all four heard the terrible screech that none of them had wanted to hear. "Cliffracer!" Baadargo shouted, drawing his knife and raising his Netch shield. Okaw did the same and Skylar readied his sword, but Banalz had drawn and knocked her bow, pulling back and aiming for the sky.

"What are you doing?" Skylar half shouted/half whispered. "Shouldn't we be looking for this Cliffracer thing?"

"I have already found it," was all she said and let her arrow fly, cursing shortly after and causing another screech to rip through the air around them. That's when everyone else looked up to see the beast in question.

Skylar was stunned. He had only ever seen anything like this back home in the dinosaur books he would read when he was little. Its body was long and slender with a long neck leading to a small head with a wicked looking beak on one end, and a longer tail with a nasty looking spike on the other. Along the top of the creature's back was a large dorsal fin that perfectly matched the two wings on either side of the creature in appearance. He also noticed a small fold of dry skin that seemed to circle the tail of the Cliffracer and pointed it out asking, "What's that around its tail?"

Baadargo looked at what Skylar was pointing at and his eyes widened. "It's a Girdle-tail! Banalz, kill that thing before it has a chance to reach us!"

"She is trying!" Banalz hissed back as she let another arrow loose, again missing her mark. "But it is quick!"

"Wait," Skylar said, sheathing his sword. "I have an idea. Banalz, you keep firing arrows at it to keep it at bay. If you hit it: good; if you don't: that's what I'm getting to. I picked up some throwing stars while we were cleaning out Addamasartus. If you can make it go one way, I can trick it and try and hit it when it dodges your arrow."

"No good," was Banalz's response, letting off another arrow that missed. "We switch." She quickly shoved both the bow and quiver of arrows into Skylar's hand, and snatched away the throwing stars that he had just retrieved from a pouch he had bought and tied to his belt. "You herd the beast. She will spring the trap."

Skylar just shrugged. He was going to let her use the bow, but if she thought she was better with the stars, he was not going to argue. Skylar actually preferred the bow since he was on his high school's archery team his last two years, albeit using a compound bow. This, though, was not much different. The only major factor missing was the arrow rest and sights, the latter of which he had never liked using anyway.

As the Cliffracer circled around for another attempt to get close, Skylar knocked the bow and drew back, aiming the bow as he did. Once the fletching of the arrow had reached the corner of his mouth and he had his target area, he let the arrow fly. All in all it had taken three seconds to do all of that, two seconds for the arrow to reach the target area, and a total of five seconds to hear the Cliffracer's dying screech as the arrow pierced its throat.

Skylar was not unnerved by the other three's awestruck stares and merely stated, "Well, that was a fluke. I was aiming for the damn thing's wings. Now, would anyone mind telling my how to get that jelly out…" Thud! The Cliffracer hit the ground right behind him. "… And what the hell the difference is between a regular Cliffracer and a Girdle-tailed Cliffracer."