Chapter Four: Seyda Neen
Greetings Cyrodiil! The Wood Elf repeated, after not receiving a response from Quirinus for nearly five minutes, "um, are, are you the one that boat dropped off? Odd to see a boat arrive at that time of the day. Hope the Imperials treated you okay.
The Wood Elf innocently smiled, I swear they took my ring."
Quirinus looked over at the small creature next to him, and smiled back. Somehow, he felt reassured that the people of Morrowind were so nice, and courteous when talking to recent immigrants.
What ring are you talking about sir, kindly and sincerely asked Quirinus, genuinely wanting to help. He knew how corrupt and cruel imperial officers could be.
The Wood Elf started to pace around, twirling his hands around in circles in front of him, "I swear one of the Guards has it. I had it last week before their weekly Let's shake down Fargoth ritual. An engraved healing ring, family heirloom of mine. You haven't seen it have you?"
Quirinus immediatly thought back to the ring he had found in the census courtyard, and wondered if he had found this kind man s ring. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the small ring, showing it to Fargoth.
Actually, said Quirinus, I think I found your ring in the courtyard of the census office, it was at the bottom of a barrel. Please, take it, it s yours afterall. Fargoth smiled, and swiftly grabbed the ring from Quirinus rough, calloused hand.
"You found it! He shouted with glee, Amazing! Thank you, thank you! 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!"
Fargoth bolted around a corner and disappeared.
Ah, wow, it always feel good to help another living being, happily said Quirinus as he watched Fargoth run away.
Now, he thought, I should go talk to this Arrille person, he sounds very nice.
The layout of the town was obvious, and the tradehouse was not too hard to find, it was at least a story taller than any other building in the town of about eleven or twelve structures. The tradehouse had a general look of being very new to Quirinus, its thatch roof was still a golden yellow, and not a single chip of plaster had yet fallen from its outer wall. The imperial noted this, and guessed that Seyda Neen was not a very old town.
He had lived his entire life in the ancient cites of Cyrodiil, with their unbreakable castles and beautiful cathedrals. There was no such thing as a new city there, or in fact, anything new at all. The province had, it seemed, long ago developed a definite air of decay, and it was rampant in the ever emptying avenues of the Empire s great heartland.
Seeing this young town on the edge of the wilderness was at once, both strange, and refreshing to him. It gave him hope that he may be able to live in Morrowind afterall, and that maybe, his life had finally taken a turn for the better.
With this new found optimism, Quirinus entered the tradehouse, and the first thing he saw was an Altmer standing behind the counter, counting septims, and sorting them into stacks. Upon hearing the door open, the Altmer looked up, and glared at him with a deep, penetrating glare that seemed to penetrate deep into his soul.
Hello, you m-must be Arrille. I-I-I m glad to meet you, I heard you re a friend of Fargoth s, sheepishly said Quirinus, faltering under the glare of the High Elf.
The Altmer heartily laughed, and cried out, Hey, it looks like Fargoth got another sucker!
This was greeted by rowdy laughter and cheers from upstairs, along with the clinking of glasses. Apparently there was a bar upstairs.
Wa-what? What do you mean? Asked Quirinus, extremely confused.
Ah, it s alright kid, everyone has fallen for Fargoth at some point or another, he s just the resident con man. Arrille walked over to Quirinus and patted him on the shoulder. So, what did he say he had lost this time?
H-he said that the census officers had taken his ring. It was engraved, and I think it was enchanted. Oh god, how could I trust him?
Quirinus began to hyperventilate, he couldn t believe that he had already been taken advantage of. He had seemed so nice, so friendly, and Quirinus was so lonely, so scared, what was he to do?
Look kid, Morrowind is not a good place, if you aren t careful, it will knock you out, steal all your clothes, armor, weapons, and money, and leave you floating in a river with a knife in your back. You got off easy this time, just be careful.
He had a sympathetic expression on his face when looking at the young imperial, look, not everyone is bad. Don t worry. Now, why are you here?
Well, I wanted to buy some supplies before I set out for Balmora. I mean, I don t want to stick out, or anything.
Oh, then welcome to Arrille's Tradehouse. I'm Arrille, publican and proprietor. Don't take what doesn't belong to you. 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?"
It was obvious to Quirinus that this was a rehearsed speech, but it did cheer him up to hear it, and he found it rather funny.
I would like to get some armor, and a sword, but I only have, Quirinus searched into his coin purse, seventy septims. Do you know what I could get for that? Arrille sneered, You can get the door behind you!
As Quirinus left the tradehouse with a lowered head, he pondered what had just happened, back home, seventy septims could have fed him for several weeks!
After leaving the building, he stared at the forest surrounding the settlement, and thought about just roughing it to Balmora, but he thought better of it. Afterall, he didn t even know where it was.
So, dejectedly, he made his way to the silt strider.
