p style="text-align: center;" /p
p style="text-align: center;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Around three in the morning, Drujeeta and Juleen roused Milsha, Neesh and Tulen from their peaceful slumber and ushered them out/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"the door. As an afterthought, they grabbed the fur cocoon, placed the hatchling inside it and left the hut with their children trailing/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"after /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"them like sleepy but obedient puppies; Drujeeta unlocked the pen next to the hut, got four packguars and loaded them up with/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"provisions for the trip./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Tulen sniffed the air and covered his nose with a clawed hand,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Urgh! By Sithis, Milsha, if you need to let one rip, you should let us know first." He said with the effort of not breathing it in./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Milsha looked back at him and laughed,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Trust me if I did it, you would have heard it." she said, narrowing her eyes dangerously at him/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta looked at her kids and up at the sky and frowned,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Will you calm down for Sithis' sake? She asked her daughter complete with a nasty look. She looked up at the sky and sighed, "No/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"one /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"let one rip, it's... the sky, it... hasn't been the same since the plague." /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The kids stopped and fixed their aunt and uncle with perplexed looks,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""What plague? We didn't hear about a plague." They said together/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen slowed and pulled them aside into the brush that lined the path,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Long ago, before you, your aunt or even I were even hatched, there was a terrible plague that swept the continent. It killed/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"many inhabitants of ancient Argonia; the An-Xileel, the ruling body at the time had advisors from all the tribes of Argonia. The/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"remnants /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"of those tribes are honored in our tribes today. Some theories circled amongst the Saxhleel are that one of the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"council's advisors had /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"locked himself away in one of the stone pyramids where he had set up an extensive alchemy station in it./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Some think he created the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"plague that ravaged the region of Blackmarsh."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"He looked at his nephews and neice and scoffed,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""This 'theory' of course is a bunch of fleshfly dung, I think the only one who caused this plague was the one they call stone fire, or if you/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"want to use the name we Argonians have taken to calling him; Norg-Greel, or forbidden enemy." He scanned each of his brother's/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"hatchlings in turn, "May anyone who speaks his name be cut off from the Hist for all time./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The hatchlings gasped and asked their uncle why they had to hurry. He turned and hissed, in a low voice that Argonians do not/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"develop gills, poison and disease resistances until they are much older. Tulen, Drujeeta and Juleen are the only safe ones /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"because all/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"their facilities were intact whereas the hatchlings did not yet have access to them. They took their uncle's stone-walled /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"expression as/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"a sign to keep moving, lest the young hatchlings succumb to the poisonous air./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Silently, they made their way to the Murkmire harbor to charter one of their ships dubbed the Marsh Warrior. The harbormaster, a/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"green scaled Argonian they had never seen before boarded the ship and helped them aboard. He helped them load their four guars/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"into the covered rear of the ship with all their provisions they had packed for the trip. They had boarded the ship and they were off/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"toward their new home. /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The ship's captain, An Argonian named Waxluthil, repositioned the bow so it was pointing toward their new destination. The captain/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"thought it best to bring them to his home village in Southern Cyrodiil. They needed to inform the Argonians that resided there abou/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"t/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"what happened in Stormhold. The sea was rough but the captain knew how to maneuver his craft through three foot tall waves and/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"squalls that threatened to overturn the ship. The youngest of the argonian children was fast asleep in his basket./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Milsha got up from her seat and went over to Drujeeta, a copper scaled female argonian with a blood red hooded robe and tugged/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"at her robe, "Mom, I'm really hungry." Milsha moaned./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"She waved absent-mindedly toward the stairwell leading down into the ship's hold./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Milsha, we stocked vials of blood in the galley before we disembarked. That will sate your hunger for the time being while shielding/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"you from the sun's harmful rays." /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The girl bounded down the stairs and found the collection of the blood vials and drank one. She was satisfied and probably wouldn't/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"need blood for three more days. With her hunger satisfied, She went back topside. The little lizard in the basket gave/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"a /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"screech. Neesh heard this and jumped, "What was that?"/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta looked up from the basket and whispered to him as the the small Argonian's ears were still sensitive. /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Neesh, he just yawned, calm down and go back to your seat." Drujeeta reassured him. /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta bent down and picked up the basket. She placed it between her legs for the added security. She saw the green Argonian/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"with /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"chocolate spines moving towards her, beaming. /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;" /p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Greetings beeko. My name is Waxluthil, who is this little bundle of joy?" The Argonian asked as he looked down at the basket/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta and Juleen looked at each other and shrugged,/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Dunno, we have not given him one yet."/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil groaned heavily and slammed his tail down hard causing the two Argonians to squeal in fright./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""By the hist, you haven't given him a name yet?" He said, realizing the anger threatening to overwhelm him like a swarm of mosquitos. He/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"took a few deep breaths to try and quell that anger, "Well, I am sure you'll think of something soon."/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil and the other two Argonians thought for a while. They looked at the hatchling, who was trying to grab his tail which was/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"constantly eluding him./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;" /p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil looked at the small Argonian and bared his teeth in a, hopefully genuine smile./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""By the hist, his tail won't sit still." He said, sniggering/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"An idea came to Juleen just then about the name,/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""I know, how about Hasir?" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Both Drujeeta and Waxiluthi smiled at this and said it was the perfect name for the little hatchling laying just feet from them. Juleen/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"informed Waxiluthil that before they go to Blackwood, they had to take care of a few things in the Vivec marketplace /br /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"smiled and nodded. He went back to the helm, thought of something and turned around./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Please, Waxluthil is my Blackmarsh name, call me Mere-Glim or Glim from this point forward okay? That is the name my fellow/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Blackwoodites call me, so why don't you start calling me that too?"/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Mere-Glim went back to the helm and sped the ship on to Vivec city. The ship reached Vivec city by quarter past three in the/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"afternoon. The Argonians stared in awe at the cream-colored cantons with bridges connecting them together. At the city's center was/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"a giant palace jutting skyward out of the sea floor. The palace had several waterfalls that supplied water to the palace with fou/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"r/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"levels of overflow. Juleen's jaw dropped when he saw all the stone steps that descended from the palace./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Neesh pointed to the giant rock that was floating in the sky./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""What is that, father? Kinda seems unnatural to have a rock float." He asked /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen shot a stern look over at his daughter./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Neesh, it it rude to point." He snapped back at her./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Neesh sat on one of the ship's benches and frowned. Drujeeta got up from her seat and comforted the small argonian, all the while/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"glaring at her husband as if he made some grave mistake./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta told Neesh that rock is called the Ministry of Truth. While Drujeeta was explaining about the floating rock, Hasir was kicking in the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"furs, trying to uncover his head so he could look /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"at what everyone else was looking at. After succeeding and failing five times in as many/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"minutes, he finally succeeded in /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"removing his /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"fur covering. He squinted as the sun peaked over the palace district in the sandstone-like/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"city of Vivec./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"He screamed in /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"pain as the s/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"un's rays burned his eyes. Drujeeta rummaged in her bag for a remedy./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""I have the means of soothing your eye pain, little one." Drujeeta took a small dropper of water and put a few drops on his/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"eyeballs. He hissed appreciatively. "Your eyes are still very sensitive."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Children, the sun is bearing down on us, we should go ashore and find some shade." With that said, he requested to Quinchal that/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"they should stop for the day because the kids are getting restless. Mere-Glim acknowledged and moored the ship in the Vivec harbor./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The argonians disembarked with Drujeeta carrying the infant Argonian. Hasir began kicking and fussing inside his fur cocoon./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""What do you want little one?" She looked where Hasir was looking, /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;""Oh, you want to go into the water?" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Hasir started grabbing for the water while clapping and giggling excitedly. Drujeeta lowered him into the water,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""I will put you in the water while I hold onto you so you can feel the cool water on your scales."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Hasir swam, well, splashed in the water for about fifteen minutes while she held him at waist level. She had taken off the bundle of/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"furs, rolled them up and put them on the platform near the Vivec temple and hopped in also, the water was /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"refreshing, not only to him,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"but, she felt particularly invigorated by it. She swam as she used her tail as a rudder all while the baby /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"argonian sat on her back./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"When she was done feeling revitalized by the water, she swam to the edge, got out, walked over to the cart and placed Hasir down in/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"it, then she grabbed the bundle of furs, unrolled them and wrapped them around the little argonian. The cart which her children sat/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"in was brought from Blackmarsh. It was packed with food for their trip to Blackwood./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"When they had reached their destination, the argonian children got out and, together, they all went up the steps to the palace plaza/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"where they beheld seven stalls, Drujeeta and Juleen passed clothiers, traders, and healers until they came to a smith who was/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"working his forge. Nearby was a rack with spears, longswords, halberds and bows./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen approached the smith but the smith started to back away because she thought he was an escaped slave. He even started to/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"call for the ordinators. Juleen had to lightly shake him while saying he was not an escaped slave. He said that he, his wife and/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"children came here from Blackmarsh to escape a plague that was enveloping it. The smith considered this when the argonian told/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"the man that they are considering a new home and /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"needed supplies./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen smiled, but to the shopkeeper the smile was mistaken for a malicious sneer,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Sir, I would like five ebony daggers, an ebony longsword, and two ebony bows with matching arrows please." /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper was unsure whether Juleen wanted to do business with him or eat him. Juleen reassured the dunmer he will not be/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"eaten. /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper's body relaxed from the overly tense posture he had just seconds before. He said it would be one hundred/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"and forty /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"septims. Juleen gave the shopkeeper the money. The shopkeeper gladly accepted the gold and handed over /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"With weapons in hand, the Argonian went over to his wife who was browsing the potions the that alchemist had for /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"sale. /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"She /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"saw shelves/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"full of potions spanning the wall behind the apotecary. She had a similar experience as Juleen. She asked the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"apothecary what potions he/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"had./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper told her what he had in his inventory,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""We have every kind of potion you could possibly imagine."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta said that she would take six blood potions." The alchemist looked at her like she had six heads. "What do you think we/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"are? a blood bank? Go bother someone else, vampire." The shopkeeper snapped back. Drujeeta's tail thumped down hard on the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"floor making the stall owner jump in fright. "well, who would have blood potions then?" She snarled./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper said if she /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"didn't go quietly, she would call the guards. The Argonian swore under her breath and proceeded further/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"down the row of stalls /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"until he came to a dimly lit corner of the trade plaza. Juleen approached the stall and saw that it had red/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"candles lining the entire /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"table with various red pentagrams and shrines surrounding the little stall./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"A sign above the stall said siemxth house goods for sale including pentagram making materials, blood potions and necromancy wares./em/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The male manning the stall was a pale faced dunmer wearing robes unlike anything Drujeeta had ever seen. The robes were black/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"with ornamental red clothes draped over them, then finished with intricate golden symbols./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper greeted her; gesturing to a plethora of the forbidden paraphernali behind him,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Greetings, argonian, to my stall of forbidden magics. My name is Hanarai Assutlanipal. What is it that you seek? necromancy/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"supplies? potions? dodads for the dark arts?" Drujeeta said she would like six blood potions. The dunmer went over to a table in the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"corner, on which sat bottles filled with various liquids. Hanarai ran his long, bony finger along each shelf, muttering to himself as he/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"looked. At last he found six blood potions in the back of the assortment of potions./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"He walked over and placed them on the counter,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Here we are, six blood potions." He held out a grey hand, /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;""Ten gold please." Drujeeta handed over the gold and took the blood potions./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta put the potions in her leather bag. Drujeeta and Juleen walked out of the plaza and into the canton. The kids saw them/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"and the argonian gave their kids three of the four iron daggers and three blood potions. Hasir clapped for joy as he saw his /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"mother./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"She produced a bottle with a rubber nipple from her bag, poured the potion into the bottle and handed it to Hasir. With /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"everyone/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"satisfied, they boarded the ship to continued their journey to Cyrodiil./span/p
p style="text-align: center;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Around three in the morning, Drujeeta and Juleen roused Milsha, Neesh and Tulen from their peaceful slumber and ushered them out/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"the door. As an afterthought, they grabbed the fur cocoon, placed the hatchling inside it and left the hut with their children trailing/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"after /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"them like sleepy but obedient puppies; Drujeeta unlocked the pen next to the hut, got four packguars and loaded them up with/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"provisions for the trip./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Tulen sniffed the air and covered his nose with a clawed hand,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Urgh! By Sithis, Milsha, if you need to let one rip, you should let us know first." He said with the effort of not breathing it in./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Milsha looked back at him and laughed,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Trust me if I did it, you would have heard it." she said, narrowing her eyes dangerously at him/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta looked at her kids and up at the sky and frowned,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Will you calm down for Sithis' sake? She asked her daughter complete with a nasty look. She looked up at the sky and sighed, "No/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"one /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"let one rip, it's... the sky, it... hasn't been the same since the plague." /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The kids stopped and fixed their aunt and uncle with perplexed looks,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""What plague? We didn't hear about a plague." They said together/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen slowed and pulled them aside into the brush that lined the path,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Long ago, before you, your aunt or even I were even hatched, there was a terrible plague that swept the continent. It killed/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"many inhabitants of ancient Argonia; the An-Xileel, the ruling body at the time had advisors from all the tribes of Argonia. The/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"remnants /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"of those tribes are honored in our tribes today. Some theories circled amongst the Saxhleel are that one of the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"council's advisors had /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"locked himself away in one of the stone pyramids where he had set up an extensive alchemy station in it./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Some think he created the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"plague that ravaged the region of Blackmarsh."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"He looked at his nephews and neice and scoffed,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""This 'theory' of course is a bunch of fleshfly dung, I think the only one who caused this plague was the one they call stone fire, or if you/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"want to use the name we Argonians have taken to calling him; Norg-Greel, or forbidden enemy." He scanned each of his brother's/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"hatchlings in turn, "May anyone who speaks his name be cut off from the Hist for all time./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The hatchlings gasped and asked their uncle why they had to hurry. He turned and hissed, in a low voice that Argonians do not/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"develop gills, poison and disease resistances until they are much older. Tulen, Drujeeta and Juleen are the only safe ones /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"because all/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"their facilities were intact whereas the hatchlings did not yet have access to them. They took their uncle's stone-walled /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"expression as/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"a sign to keep moving, lest the young hatchlings succumb to the poisonous air./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Silently, they made their way to the Murkmire harbor to charter one of their ships dubbed the Marsh Warrior. The harbormaster, a/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"green scaled Argonian they had never seen before boarded the ship and helped them aboard. He helped them load their four guars/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"into the covered rear of the ship with all their provisions they had packed for the trip. They had boarded the ship and they were off/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"toward their new home. /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The ship's captain, An Argonian named Waxluthil, repositioned the bow so it was pointing toward their new destination. The captain/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"thought it best to bring them to his home village in Southern Cyrodiil. They needed to inform the Argonians that resided there abou/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"t/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"what happened in Stormhold. The sea was rough but the captain knew how to maneuver his craft through three foot tall waves and/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"squalls that threatened to overturn the ship. The youngest of the argonian children was fast asleep in his basket./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Milsha got up from her seat and went over to Drujeeta, a copper scaled female argonian with a blood red hooded robe and tugged/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"at her robe, "Mom, I'm really hungry." Milsha moaned./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"She waved absent-mindedly toward the stairwell leading down into the ship's hold./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Milsha, we stocked vials of blood in the galley before we disembarked. That will sate your hunger for the time being while shielding/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"you from the sun's harmful rays." /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The girl bounded down the stairs and found the collection of the blood vials and drank one. She was satisfied and probably wouldn't/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"need blood for three more days. With her hunger satisfied, She went back topside. The little lizard in the basket gave/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"a /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"screech. Neesh heard this and jumped, "What was that?"/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta looked up from the basket and whispered to him as the the small Argonian's ears were still sensitive. /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Neesh, he just yawned, calm down and go back to your seat." Drujeeta reassured him. /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta bent down and picked up the basket. She placed it between her legs for the added security. She saw the green Argonian/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"with /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"chocolate spines moving towards her, beaming. /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;" /p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Greetings beeko. My name is Waxluthil, who is this little bundle of joy?" The Argonian asked as he looked down at the basket/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta and Juleen looked at each other and shrugged,/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Dunno, we have not given him one yet."/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil groaned heavily and slammed his tail down hard causing the two Argonians to squeal in fright./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""By the hist, you haven't given him a name yet?" He said, realizing the anger threatening to overwhelm him like a swarm of mosquitos. He/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"took a few deep breaths to try and quell that anger, "Well, I am sure you'll think of something soon."/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil and the other two Argonians thought for a while. They looked at the hatchling, who was trying to grab his tail which was/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"constantly eluding him./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;" /p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil looked at the small Argonian and bared his teeth in a, hopefully genuine smile./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""By the hist, his tail won't sit still." He said, sniggering/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"An idea came to Juleen just then about the name,/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""I know, how about Hasir?" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Both Drujeeta and Waxiluthi smiled at this and said it was the perfect name for the little hatchling laying just feet from them. Juleen/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"informed Waxiluthil that before they go to Blackwood, they had to take care of a few things in the Vivec marketplace /br /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Waxluthil /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"smiled and nodded. He went back to the helm, thought of something and turned around./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Please, Waxluthil is my Blackmarsh name, call me Mere-Glim or Glim from this point forward okay? That is the name my fellow/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Blackwoodites call me, so why don't you start calling me that too?"/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Mere-Glim went back to the helm and sped the ship on to Vivec city. The ship reached Vivec city by quarter past three in the/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"afternoon. The Argonians stared in awe at the cream-colored cantons with bridges connecting them together. At the city's center was/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"a giant palace jutting skyward out of the sea floor. The palace had several waterfalls that supplied water to the palace with fou/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"r/span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"levels of overflow. Juleen's jaw dropped when he saw all the stone steps that descended from the palace./span/p
p style="text-align: justify;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Neesh pointed to the giant rock that was floating in the sky./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""What is that, father? Kinda seems unnatural to have a rock float." He asked /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen shot a stern look over at his daughter./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Neesh, it it rude to point." He snapped back at her./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Neesh sat on one of the ship's benches and frowned. Drujeeta got up from her seat and comforted the small argonian, all the while/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"glaring at her husband as if he made some grave mistake./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta told Neesh that rock is called the Ministry of Truth. While Drujeeta was explaining about the floating rock, Hasir was kicking in the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"furs, trying to uncover his head so he could look /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"at what everyone else was looking at. After succeeding and failing five times in as many/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"minutes, he finally succeeded in /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"removing his /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"fur covering. He squinted as the sun peaked over the palace district in the sandstone-like/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"city of Vivec./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"He screamed in /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"pain as the s/spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"un's rays burned his eyes. Drujeeta rummaged in her bag for a remedy./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""I have the means of soothing your eye pain, little one." Drujeeta took a small dropper of water and put a few drops on his/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"eyeballs. He hissed appreciatively. "Your eyes are still very sensitive."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Children, the sun is bearing down on us, we should go ashore and find some shade." With that said, he requested to Quinchal that/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"they should stop for the day because the kids are getting restless. Mere-Glim acknowledged and moored the ship in the Vivec harbor./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The argonians disembarked with Drujeeta carrying the infant Argonian. Hasir began kicking and fussing inside his fur cocoon./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""What do you want little one?" She looked where Hasir was looking, /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;""Oh, you want to go into the water?" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Hasir started grabbing for the water while clapping and giggling excitedly. Drujeeta lowered him into the water,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""I will put you in the water while I hold onto you so you can feel the cool water on your scales."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Hasir swam, well, splashed in the water for about fifteen minutes while she held him at waist level. She had taken off the bundle of/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"furs, rolled them up and put them on the platform near the Vivec temple and hopped in also, the water was /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"refreshing, not only to him,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"but, she felt particularly invigorated by it. She swam as she used her tail as a rudder all while the baby /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"argonian sat on her back./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"When she was done feeling revitalized by the water, she swam to the edge, got out, walked over to the cart and placed Hasir down in/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"it, then she grabbed the bundle of furs, unrolled them and wrapped them around the little argonian. The cart which her children sat/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"in was brought from Blackmarsh. It was packed with food for their trip to Blackwood./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"When they had reached their destination, the argonian children got out and, together, they all went up the steps to the palace plaza/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"where they beheld seven stalls, Drujeeta and Juleen passed clothiers, traders, and healers until they came to a smith who was/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"working his forge. Nearby was a rack with spears, longswords, halberds and bows./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen approached the smith but the smith started to back away because she thought he was an escaped slave. He even started to/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"call for the ordinators. Juleen had to lightly shake him while saying he was not an escaped slave. He said that he, his wife and/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"children came here from Blackmarsh to escape a plague that was enveloping it. The smith considered this when the argonian told/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"the man that they are considering a new home and /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"needed supplies./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Juleen smiled, but to the shopkeeper the smile was mistaken for a malicious sneer,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Sir, I would like five ebony daggers, an ebony longsword, and two ebony bows with matching arrows please." /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper was unsure whether Juleen wanted to do business with him or eat him. Juleen reassured the dunmer he will not be/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"eaten. /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper's body relaxed from the overly tense posture he had just seconds before. He said it would be one hundred/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"and forty /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"septims. Juleen gave the shopkeeper the money. The shopkeeper gladly accepted the gold and handed over /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"With weapons in hand, the Argonian went over to his wife who was browsing the potions the that alchemist had for /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"sale. /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"She /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"saw shelves/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"full of potions spanning the wall behind the apotecary. She had a similar experience as Juleen. She asked the /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"apothecary what potions he/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"had./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper told her what he had in his inventory,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""We have every kind of potion you could possibly imagine."/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta said that she would take six blood potions." The alchemist looked at her like she had six heads. "What do you think we/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"are? a blood bank? Go bother someone else, vampire." The shopkeeper snapped back. Drujeeta's tail thumped down hard on the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"floor making the stall owner jump in fright. "well, who would have blood potions then?" She snarled./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper said if she /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"didn't go quietly, she would call the guards. The Argonian swore under her breath and proceeded further/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"down the row of stalls /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"until he came to a dimly lit corner of the trade plaza. Juleen approached the stall and saw that it had red/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"candles lining the entire /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"table with various red pentagrams and shrines surrounding the little stall./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"A sign above the stall said siemxth house goods for sale including pentagram making materials, blood potions and necromancy wares./em/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The male manning the stall was a pale faced dunmer wearing robes unlike anything Drujeeta had ever seen. The robes were black/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"with ornamental red clothes draped over them, then finished with intricate golden symbols./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"The shopkeeper greeted her; gesturing to a plethora of the forbidden paraphernali behind him,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Greetings, argonian, to my stall of forbidden magics. My name is Hanarai Assutlanipal. What is it that you seek? necromancy/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"supplies? potions? dodads for the dark arts?" Drujeeta said she would like six blood potions. The dunmer went over to a table in the/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"corner, on which sat bottles filled with various liquids. Hanarai ran his long, bony finger along each shelf, muttering to himself as he/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"looked. At last he found six blood potions in the back of the assortment of potions./span/p
p style="text-align: left;" /p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"He walked over and placed them on the counter,/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;""Here we are, six blood potions." He held out a grey hand, /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;""Ten gold please." Drujeeta handed over the gold and took the blood potions./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;" /span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"Drujeeta put the potions in her leather bag. Drujeeta and Juleen walked out of the plaza and into the canton. The kids saw them/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"and the argonian gave their kids three of the four iron daggers and three blood potions. Hasir clapped for joy as he saw his /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"mother./span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"She produced a bottle with a rubber nipple from her bag, poured the potion into the bottle and handed it to Hasir. With /spanspan style="font-size: 10pt;"everyone/span/p
p style="text-align: left;"span style="font-size: 10pt;"satisfied, they boarded the ship to continued their journey to Cyrodiil./span/p