They finally made it up the winding road leading to Kvatch's gates just after noon. Tala was not surprised to see that the ground still remained scorched and barren from the destruction caused by the Great Oblivion Gate after all those years ago; though she was surprised to see that the citizens successfully removed the remains of the Great Gate's frame and laid down new cobblestone leading to the main entrance. The open platform that once held wooden guard spikes was now open with a brand new stable and corrals set up on the west side. It was good that they let Lily and Lavender graze out in a field for a little while before they arrived; due to the ground yielding no grass, the horses stabled there had to be fed with hay. Upon arriving, Tala and Marten dismounted and gave their horses to the ostler and paid for boarding before approaching the gates.

The guard standing vigil there was an Altmer who appeared to be slightly older than her with sky-blue eyes and a chainmail helmet. The rest of his armor consisted of chainmail as well, with his cuirass bearing the Kvatch emblem on his chest. Upon seeing her approach, he quickly stepped in front of her to stare at her face under her Glass helmet, which made Tala a little confused.

"Is there a problem, officer?" Tala cautiously asked.

"You look familiar..." He slowly said as he still studied her face.

Tala's caution quickly subsided as she realized how and where he was trying to place her from. "Ah. You probably remember me charging into the Great Gate wearing nothing but a mismatched set of Glass and Elven Armor and coming out of it alive."

Instantly the guard's cautious demeanor disappeared as he finally remembered. "By the Nine! The Hero of Kvatch has returned!" He exclaimed. "It is an honor to see you again!"

"Good to see you too." She replied with a gentle smile. "These days, I just go by Tala. I don't think I got your name at the time..."

"I'm Merandil." He replied. He then noticed Marten watching shyly from behind his mother and decided to address him with a sweet smile. "And who might you be, young man?"

"Marten." The boy responded as he stepped away from his mother to politely smile and slightly wave to the guard.

Merandil's smile then slightly faltered, causing Tala's stomach to flip. "Mar... ten. You mean 'Martin'?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah, but everyone calls me 'Marten'. It sounds different so if I hear someone saying 'Martin', I don't think they're talking to me."

Merandil then looked to Tala. "You mean... as in...?"

Tala humbly smiled and nodded. 'Here we go. The first Kvatch person to convince.' "When he was born, my husband and I named him in honor of the Emperor. We felt it appropriate, given what Martin had done for all of us."

"I see..." The Altmer then looked back to Marten and added, "Well before he was Emperor Martin, I knew him as a humble priest who used to reside in this town's very chapel. He was a very smart and kind man. Hopefully you're turning out the same, young Marten. You'd make your namesake proud if you are." He then gave the boy a friendly wink.

While Marten's excitement grew, Tala's anxiety receded. So far, so good.

Marten then looked up to his mother and joyfully asked, "Mama, can we go visit the chapel while we're here? I wanna check it out!"

There was a part of her that strongly voted against that option, but another part had an overwhelming desire to return there as well. "Perhaps we can visit later today. After all, once we drop off this delivery we have all afternoon to sightsee."

"You have a delivery to someone?" Merandil curiously inquired.

"Yeah, we have to see..." She held the last syllable as she rummaged through her knapsack to find the invoice Reynald sent with her. She then found it and finished her sentence. "Sigrid at Exceptional Elixirs."

"Ah, you want Sigrid. That will be easy." He then pushed open one of the large gates and waved them to step through. As they did so, Merandil pointed to the two-story brick building to the right, sitting between the chapel and the city wall. "Her shop is right there."

"Wow, you're right. That is easy!" Tala delightfully commented. "Thank you for your help, Merandil. It is good to see you again."

He politely bowed in gratitude. "You as well. Enjoy your stay with us in the newly rebuilt Kvatch." He then stepped away to return to his post.

As Tala walked the extra fifty feet to the door of Exceptional Elixirs, she took her time as her eyes scanned around to observe the city. When she had first entered Kvatch all those years ago, everything was ablaze, the streets were blackened, and the buildings were so demolished that she had to use the Chapel Undercroft just to be able to navigate past the burning debris. As she gazed upon it now, the streets were cleaned up and new buildings were erected. Behind the shop, she could see that some of the homes had scorched brickwork in some areas, suggesting that certain people rebuilt from the ruined fragments of their old ones. She could tell back then that the citizens had built their houses with traditional brick walls and shingled roofs, stacked in a style that was very reminiscent of Chorrol's architecture. The new homes in their place were a common build of brick and straw roofing. Only two buildings looked to have shingling: the alchemy shop, and a large building across from the chapel. Tala recognized the other building from navigating through the city during the Oblivion Crisis; clearly whoever owns it now put a lot of time and energy into rebuilding it rather than breaking it down to the ground and starting all over. From the size of it, the building appeared to be an inn... something Tala made a mental note to investigate, as they would be needing a room for the night.

When they stepped through the door of the alchemy shop, she noticed that the layout of the place looked just like the Bravil Mages Guild, with the exception of no half wall on her right, giving the place a more open floor plan. And upon entering, she quickly recognized two familiar faces: Contumeliorus Florius and Angalmo, her fellow Guild-mates from the Chorrol chapter. Upon hearing the door close, they both looked to see her; while Contumeliorus appeared disinterested, Angalmo gave her a warming smile.

"Well, well! Long time no see!" The elder Altmer delightfully greeted.

Both Tala and Marten smiled in return. 'Ah, that's right! He had moved here not too long ago!' Tala then happily replied, "Hello! How are you?"

"Very well, actually!" Angalmo said. "Coming here to Kvatch was not a futile endeavor. While this may not be a Mages Guild anymore, I get to work on my alchemy experiments here with fellow mages. Though if anyone needed a little work on their skills in Mysticism, I'm still happy to oblige for a small fee."

Tala's elated smile slightly faded. "This used to be the Kvatch Mages Guild?"

"Yeah." Contumeliorus droned. "Since the Kvatch chapter specialized in alchemy, Sigrid converted it over to an alchemy shop as a means for income. Angalmo and I still work here. I don't feel much like moving again, so I might as well stay and continue to offer my services in case any of the Count's guards need a recharge on an enchanted weapon... or if a wandering adventure's got something that needs recharging."

"So you both are staying in the old sleeping quarters here?" Tala asked. "And do you suppose Sigrid would offer an empty bed or two for a fellow Guild-mate?"

"Nah, she converted the upstairs as her living space for her and her kid." Contumeliorus replied. "I'm bunking at Angalmo's place. Got to pay rent and everything. Kinda miss being in a Guild where the room and board were free."

"Yes, well now you'll just have to accept sharing the cost of a house with a fellow Guild-mate." Angalmo retorted. "You could always rent a room at the inn if I'm too expensive for you." That comment got a snort from Contumeliorus, suggesting he was never going to do that.

Tala let a light-hearted chuckle escape her throat before she changed the subject. "So... where is Sigrid, anyway? I need to speak with her."

Instantly, Contumeliorus leaned back in his chair and shouted, "SIGRID!"

"WHAT?!" Came the voice of an agitated woman from the top of the stairs.

"Someone's here to see you!" He shouted again.

A Nord in her late-thirties with bright blue eyes and pale-blonde hair in a messy bun then descended from the staircase on the left of the room. She wore a blue velvet dress with the odd stain here and there on the skirting, suggesting that she's spilled a few potions or powdered herbs from time to time. Following behind her was a young girl who appeared to be somewhere around Marten's age, wearing a blue silk tunic and matching skirt, with sandy-blonde hair and similar bright blue eyes. When the woman took one look at the visitors, she guiltily clasped her hands together and bore an embarrassed frown.

"Forgive my associate here." She apologized. "I'm Sigrid. How can I-" She then stopped herself once she studied Tala's face and- like Merandil- suddenly started showing signs of recognizing her.

"Sigrid, this is Tala." Angalmo introduced. "She's a fellow Guild-mate from the Chorrol chapter. She's a good friend."

The longer Sigrid stared, the more Tala knew she'd have to speak up like she did earlier. "You're probably wondering why you recognize me." She decided to say.

"I do, but I can't figure out why." Sigrid replied.

"I would be the little Breton everyone knows around here as the Hero of Kvatch."

Both Sigrid and her daughter's faces lit up in surprise. "Our famed Hero of Kvatch returns after all this time! And you're also a former member of the Mages Guild? This is a great surprise! I'm Sigrid, like I said. This here is my daughter, Fenja." She then gestured to the little girl, who politely curtsied upon hearing her name. "What can we do for you, great Hero?"

Tala humbly smiled. Even though she felt a little better about this particular honorific title thanks to the pep talk with Marten, a part of her still couldn't quite get over the awkwardness she felt anytime someone tries to glorify her with her accomplishments. "Oh please, you can just call me Tala." The blunette insisted. "And this here is my son, Marten." As she gestured to the boy in question, he softly waved and smiled like he always did. "We're actually here delivering you a shipment you ordered from Jemane Botanicals regarding some rare herbs."

Both Sigrid and Angalmo quickly stood straight to attention and eagerly watched as Tala slid the alchemy knapsack from her shoulder and approached to hand it to the shop owner. Sigrid happily took the knapsack as well as the invoice.

"Splendid!" She exclaimed. "These are going to be great for the potions we are working on. Thank you so much! Let me get you the coin that is owed." She then walked to the back of the room where a counter resided and proceeded to count the coin.

"While we're talking alchemy," Tala called out, "I have some more rare ingredients if you're willing to buy."

Sigrid looked up from the counter with interest. "Such as?"

"Atronach salts, some Daedroth teeth, and one Xivilai heart."

Now she had the attention of all three mages. "How in Oblivion did you manage to come across daedra?!" Contumeliorus blurted in disbelief.

"I work with the Fighters Guild for extra coin." Tala started to explain. "I went on a contract where I had to delve into an old cave that was inhabited with daedra. I took advantage of my situation and harvested what I needed from them."

"Well I'm interested!" Angalmo proclaimed.

"As am I." Sigrid added. "How much do you want for those things?"

"Thirty each for the Fire and Void Salts. Sixty for the Frost Salts. Hmmm... twenty-five for the heart. And... eight septims per tooth?"

Sigrid and Angalmo looked to each other and exchanged a couple of glances before nodding and looking back to Tala. "Done. How many do you have of what?"

Tala then wandered over to Sigrid and proceeded to line up her daedric items for the interested buyers to view. As they went through their business transaction, Marten waited off to the side, casually observing the scenery in the room.

"It's nice to hear that the Fighters Guild is doing well in Chorrol." Sigrid commented while Tala was counting Daedroth teeth. "My late husband was the head of the Kvatch chapter back before the Oblivion Crisis. Sometimes I miss seeing the old guild hall... we tore down what was left of it as we rebuilt the city."

Tala stopped counting and forlornly looked at her. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

Sigrid nodded. "Thanks. I'm probably more saddened that he never got to meet his daughter. Fenja was born about seven months after the attack on the city. Quite a few children lost their parents that day, actually. When we were rebuilding the own, Olana had built a place for an orphanage so she could take care of the kids."

"That's great to hear that someone's looking out for them." Tala remarked. Her mind then cycled back to the Fighters Guild as she remembered that she had another agenda while she was in town. "Speaking of the Fighters Guild... I was wondering why a new chapter never rebuilt here in Kvatch."

"Well... for one, none of the members survived after the Oblivion Gate opened." Sigrid explained. "They all fought very bravely against the daedra... but no one lived to tell the tale. So there wasn't anyone to petition the Guildmaster for a new chapter."

"Well the Guild is looking for contracts. If anyone in town is needing their assistance-"

"I can ask around, but the odds of that are pretty slim." Sigrid simply replied.

Tala then tilted her head in confusion. "Why is that?"

"If anyone in town needs help, they ask Saewin."

Tala rapidly blinked her eyes. "Who's Saewin?"

"A wandering scout that came to Cyrodiil about eight years ago. Showed up one day for supplies and stayed to help one of our farmers outside of the city. After you showed up, closed the Gate, and left with Brother Martin, one of the guards went out to check on Slythe- the owner of the farm- and found Slythe dead and Saewin wounded from a daedra attack. She dragged him in to be healed by Oleta and he just decided to stick around after that to help us rebuild the homes and bury our dead. He ended up developing a close bond with Muriel- the guard that found him- and they got married about a year after the Crisis. He kept Shetcombe farm running after Slythe's passing so we could have crops to eat while we rebuilt. Word got out that he was also skilled with a blade, so people started hiring him for tasks that we would have normally taken out Guild contracts for. He's been a Gods-send. Nice guy. He's a mer... of sorts. Muriel told me once that he was half Altmer, half Dunmer, but when I asked him directly one time, for some reason he dodged the question. So I guess he's touchy about it. Doesn't bother me, but some people do find it odd that he doesn't talk about his past. Fenja sometimes plays with his daughter when he leaves her at the orphanage while he's gone on a job."

"When he leaves her at the orphanage... while he's gone on a job?" Tala repeated as a question.

"Yeah he doesn't like to leave her alone at the farm. So when he's gone for long periods of time, Olana looks after her for him."

"What about his wife, the guard... Muriel, you said her name was?"

Sigrid got quiet for a moment before she replied, "I guess I should mention that Muriel... she... died shortly after childbirth. He's been raising their daughter on his own. It's another reason why we hire him for services, so he can be able to have some extra coin to be able to take care of her."

"Oh. I guess I can sympathize with that." Tala sadly remarked. She then put a little a little brighter tone to her voice as she added, "Well it sounds like you've got quite the helpful hand around here then."

"He really has been. And with how small Kvatch is right now, there really isn't a need for a Fighter's Guild and extra hands. Between Saewin and the guards at Castle Kvatch, we're doing pretty well."

Well, the mystery of No-Contracts-Are-Coming-From-Kvatch was solved. Oreyn wasn't going to be happy to hear that one mer is taking the place of an entire Fighters Guild. Tala finished laying out her items for the alchemist to see and let Sigrid calculate the cost of it all. After the transaction was complete, she decided to make a little more small talk. "So how is Count Matius these days? Been running Kvatch well?"

"He doesn't always do things I agree with, but overall he really does have the citizens' best interests at heart." Sigrid replied. "He and the Countess also welcomed a son just a few months ago."

Tala's eyes widened. "When did he get married?"

"About a year ago. He married Taline Carvain, the Countess of Bruma's younger sister."

"Countess Narina has a sister?!" Tala exclaimed in even greater shock.

"Yep. Don't be too surprised. Apparently most people didn't know that. She was a bit of a wallflower and no one knew she existed outside of the Bruma royal court. Salvian met her while visiting Bruma shortly after the end of the Oblivion Crisis. Apparently it was love at first sight. Countess Narina gave them her blessing, and they got married..."

As the adults continued their chatter, Marten idly listened for a little while before Fenja decided to approach him and start their own conversation. "How old are you?" She said to him.

Marten's attention quickly snapped away from the other room to look at her; upon noticing that she was standing next to him, he slowly responded, "Seven."

She then giggled and put her hands behind her back in a playful manner. "I'm seven too! But I'm going to be eight in Heartfire."

"I turned seven back in Sun's Dawn."

"Oh! So I'm older than you, but not by much!"

Marten nervously smiled and subtly nodded. "My mom's also born in Heartfire... and I'm pretty sure she's way older than both of us."

Fenja giggled again. "Is this your first time in Kvatch?" When Marten nodded again, she continued to talk without really stopping to take a breath, "My Ma said that we used to have lots of fancy houses and we had lots of people living here and busy with visitors, but when the Crisis happened we were the first to be destroyed. We're a small city now, but we still have fun places to go! Not a lot of people have moved back here, except Angalmo and Con... Con-te-low-res... oh, and Vedat! Vedat works with Batul over at her forge. He came from a place called Morrowind and he came here to Kvatch when he said he couldn't find any work in Cheydinhal. I don't know what that meant, but he seems happy working for Batul. Hey, are you and your Ma staying for a few days?"

Marten's head was spinning as he tried to keep up with the speed at which she was talking, but he did catch when he was supposed to reply. "I... think we are."

"Maybe you could come play with me and my friends sometime? We could always use another person to play tag with us!"

Marten couldn't help but brightly smile. "Sure! I'll ask my mom."

"Great! Hey, wanna come upstairs and see my plants? Ma's got fun plants growing for her potions." When Marten nodded, she quickly took his wrist and led him into the other room where everyone was gathered. "Ma! Marten and I are going upstairs to look at the plants!"

Everyone stopped their idle chatter as Sigrid responded to her daughter. "That's fine with me if it's alright with his mother."

Marten looked to Tala, silently asking for her permission, to which she gave him a nod of approval. Fenja then led Marten to the stairs and up to the second floor, babbling about various alchemy plants the whole way there.

Once they were out of earshot, Tala turned to ask, "So where's the nearest inn we can stay at tonight?"

"That'd be The Siege Engine across the street from us, next to the blacksmith's place." Sigrid replied.

Ah, so that building was an inn. But wait... "The Siege Engine?" Tala displeasingly remarked.

"That would be Athrelor trying to profit off the fame of the Oblivion Crisis." Sigrid said with an eye roll. "He originally owned a small tavern before the Crisis, but he rebuilt with a new name and a new look. The tourists seem to like it, so I guess that's all that matters."

"He sells good food and spirits there." Angalmo commented. "And I heard he keeps his inn tidy. You two will be comfortable there."

There was a slight hum in her throat before she eventually nodded. "I guess I'll go book a room for the night and come back for my son. I'd hate to tell him we have to leave so soon after saying he could go play. Is he okay here for a few minutes?"

Sigrid nodded. "No worries. But if you don't come back for him, I'll put him to work at the shop."

Tala couldn't help but chuckle. "Given that he's been helping his uncle work with herbs from the time he could talk, I don't think he would be bothered by that. He'd be more upset that I didn't come back for him!"

There was a chuckle from Sigrid as Tala waved to excuse herself and headed for the door. But before she could leave, Sigrid added, "By the way... did I hear right? Your son's name is Martin?"

Tala froze for half a second before she turned around and nodded. "Yeah. Martin became a good friend to me, and I served him well as his champion. I felt indebted to him for saving Tamriel from Mehrunes Dagon. So when my husband and I had our son, we both felt it appropriate to name him in Martin's honor."

Sigrid remained silent for a moment or two before she eventually said something. "Huh. Well that's rather admirable of you. From what I remember of Brother Martin, I'm sure he would have been humbled by that."

Tala softly chuckled. "Yeah, he probably would have. Anyway, I'll be back." She then walked out of the shop and headed across the street to the inn, with yet another Kvatch citizen believing the usual spiel. Seems she had nothing to worry about after all.

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A/N 5-19-22: By the Nine! I got another one done in less than a month! Hope you guys were ok with yet another talk-filled chapter!

Also, I should probably make a note that I added some OC characters. Some of which are/will be MNO (mentioned name only). No, Narina Carvain doesn't have a sister in-game; I had the idea that with Salvian being a newly appointed Count and not being from a noble household, that it would be expected for him to marry someone of noble blood (I mean, that was expected of Martin when he became Emperor, so why not other nobles?). So I wanted to include a minor family character for one of the Counts/Countesses and create a match between him and a woman of nobility. I came up with the headcanon theory of Narina having a sister that no one really knew about because she kept to herself. And no Sigrid didn't mention a husband in-game (it's another headcanon idea). There was no Kvatch guard called Muriel either, she is also a MNO OC. Vedat and Saewin are also minor OCs. (I should probably warn you all that some more original characters may come up as the story progresses, but I will do my best not to get too carried away.)

I also designed Kvatch's layout by scratch... I only recently learned of a "Kvatch Rebuilt" mod, so therefore I've never played it and couldn't have used the layout of the mod as the scenery for the story (but I did see a picture of the outside entrance and saw the stable there so I at least used that as a reference). So yeah, like me, you'll have to use your imagination as I describe my handmade design for the inside of the city, heh-heh.

As always, thank you for your support!