Cearbhail: Yay, a chapter 3. You know what, I am really starting to like this Bloodstain character. He has such a Batman complex that it's killing me.

Bloodstain's journal, entry 2

A day has passed since I rallied some drunken Nords to fight back against the Aldmeri Dominion. I'm not sure if anything I said remained in their heads, but I think I got to some people. This world may be a giant piss-hole but even this place still has some noble hearts left. That's the problem isn't it? We live in a dark time, in a dark place. It doesn't matter how bright one's heart may shine if everywhere it turns there is more darkness to surround it. People are too afraid to act, thinking that they're the only ones who want change. I am change. I will bring it to them.

Before I can go to the big town of Solitude and do us all a favor, I need my team ready. Forsworn and his agents are a good place to start, if only I could find them. I know a good place to start: Markarth. It's just a dark town with lips that will talk if a knife is applied somewhere vital. I know a good pair of lips that love to talk and I'm here now, looking for him. Someone will know where to find Forsworn. After all, he's here at least once a month to take back the city. If anything else, I could just wait and help give him a hand.

Bloodstain…

….

I walked around the lively streets of Markarth. It was called the city that was created by the Dwarves. Heh. If only the Dwarves could see this town now. They would shake their heads in shame. Prostitutes openly wandered the streets, flashing themselves to anyone who walked by. Their masters waited next to doorways, counting their coin as they prepared to sell off their girl to another 'lucky' person who was to happen on by.

The buildings themselves were stained with blood and oil. The mine that long became a prison was now a much deeper operation. The Thalmor long took over that mine and started using it to drill into the Dwarves' oil. The vein that they found seemed to run some of the Dwarven ruins across Skyrim. By tapping into the vein and sucking it dry, the old ruins have fallen into a state of disrepair. The Thalmor don't mind, they enjoy going into the now harmless ruins and taking whatever technology they want. They have all the oil they want to power anything they create. The oil vein that was drilled into did not only ruin any Dwarven ruins, the burned oil stained all the building in the town, making them fall apart. This town was a shell of what it used to be.

The air itself was polluted beyond repair. Why Forsworn would want this land back was beyond me. I would ditch this town and head for Whiterun, birthplace of the Companions…trained lapdogs of the Thalmor. Well, were I guess. They were long killed off and their noble house burnt down. Their downfall was a lot faster than that of our Shoutmen. That shows you just bad our purge was. Every great warrior and every noble family were killed in the dead of the night. The people running the holds now were Thalmor advisors and their trained lapdogs. The only surviving Jarl was Jarl Stormcloak, the leader of our army. We kept that line alive, it was our doing. So…why would he betray us now? I don't think he would, but I can't think of anyone else who could Shout us to death.

I did not bother taking off my mask. I wanted everyone to know I was here. I wanted them to know that change was approaching. As I walked through the trashed streets, I looked at the faces of the people I walked past. Everyone avoided me like I was a monster. My face always struck fear into those who did not live a good life. Everyone here who avoided me did so because they knew that I would find out sooner or later about what they did. In this town, everyone had a story. This was the worst town to be in. If only Riften were still around, I'm sure I'd have to balance the two towns out. But Riften was a hole in the ground. You can thank Marven Black-Briar. She thought she held power but when she sold out to the Thalmor and the purge began, the Thalmor came after her first. I'll have to hand it to her. She did not just die like a dog. She took the city with her in a flame of glory. She purged everyone inside it with her, including the army of bloodhounds sent by the Thalmor Embassy to take care of her. Heck of a way to go.

So, as I came up to the tavern that housed my good ol' buddy, I could only begin to pray that I stirred up some trouble while I was here. If I could get the Thalmor nervous, I was sure to get them to make mistakes. Mistakes were nice; I liked it when my enemies made mistakes. It made it easier for my blade to find a nice place to sink itself in.

I kicked in the door, busting it off its hinges. The door flew into the room, knocking over a couple of drinkers and their table of chess. The two of them stood up and glared over at me, but one look at my overcoat and my mask, as well as my hat, and they just moved away. I chuckled. It never gets old.

I spotted my target, an old man who was playing 'find the snowberry' with a stupid Argonian. I walked up to him, watching him about to win another gold coin from the Argonian as his eyes nervously watched three turned over cups move around in circles. One of the cups contained a snowberry, the other two were completely empty.

"Keep your eyes on the cup," My friend said. He was a Bosmer and at this moment, he was picking on his favorite species…beasts. "Don't take your eyes off for a second." I could hear his voice shift. "Close." He whispered. The Argonian blinked his eyes very slowly. In that second of delay, my friend flicked the snowberry out of the cup it was hidden under and into his sleeve. The Argonian opened his eyes and looked over at the cups.

My friend spread his arms out. "Ok, my good man. Where's the snowberry?"

The Argonian looked over the cups. "That one." He pointed to the one on the left. He would have been right if my Bosmer hadn't tampered with the game.

He lifted up the cup and shook his head, playing the sad game winner. "No, I'm sorry, but…you lose. That will be 10 gold."

The Argonian hissed in annoyance. "Three times in a row? Something is not right, I always win."

My friend shrugged. "Today's not your day. Try again tomorrow, maybe you'll win one."

The Argonian hissed in anger as he walked away. He took one glance at me and looked away. As he came by, he said, "I think that game handler is cheating. You should do what you do best."

I tilted my head to the side. Under a mask, it became a bit of a menacing glare to my prey. "I will."

The Argonian shuddered and worked his way out the broken door. I turned my attention to my friend and took a second to straighten my hat as I walked up to him and sat down.

He didn't even look up at me. "Price to pay is 10 gold, if you win you get 100 gold. Deal?" He said. Then he looked up at me and fell backwards out of his seat. I looked down at him, his face flushed white. "Bloodstain? What…what brings you here?"

I placed ten coins on the table. "I want a game. Let's play."

My friend cleared his throat nervously and showed me his snowberry. He placed it under a cup and started spinning it around with the cups. I continued to look up at him the entire time. I saw him glance up toward where my eyes were. "Are…aren't you going to watch the cups?" He asked, his voice full of worry.

"What makes you think I'm not? Can you see my eyes?" I asked back, leaning forward.

"N-no. I can't." He responded. He stopped the cups and said, "Pick your cup, sir."

I reached down to grab a cup, but I reached for his hand instead. I brought it up and chicken-winged it. I pushed my friend up to a wall and said, "Now…it's my turn for a game." I said as I pushed up on one of his fingers, breaking it.

My friend cried out in pain. "Gah! You didn't even ask me a question yet." He said through his screams.

I looked around. Everyone was pretending to not notice us. This was good. I looked back at my friend. "Oops, guess I forgot the rules. Ok…where's Forsworn?"

"They're everywhere." He said.

I snapped two more. "See, I knew you'd suck at this game. I meant the Shoutman. Where's my old partner?"

His knees collapsed and he started to fall to the floor. I continued to hold him up. "He's…he's… gah…he's at the old fort northeast of here. That's the rumor at least."

I dropped and let me fall to the floor to pamper his broken fingers. I walked over to the cups and lifted the one in the center. There was the snowberry. I tossed it to my friend and said, "I'll let you keep the ten gold, even though…I won."

I knew where I had to go now. There was an old fort that does not have a name anymore. I should have guessed my old friend was still there. Now, I just had to get there before some of my new enemies decided to follow me. I only hoped I was faster than how fast word spread around town. I doubt it. Nothing traveled faster than the word of a whore.

Cearbhail: Yes, the chapters are still short. I'll try to work on that, but at least the story is consistant so far.