Andi searched for a way to get the gate open, until he found that it wasn't even locked at all. The guards had no reason to lock it as they didn't think any prisoners would end up in this part of the prison. Andi slowly open the gate as it creaked. He could see nobody around, and thought about stealing one of the horses in the nearby stable, but it would probably cause to much attention. And he thought about how he would feel if someone stole his horse which was still at his old home, and still without a name, he would be devastated if someone had harmed her while he was locked up.

He crept across the yard towards the tree line, hiding behind hay bales and carts as he went. "We're out now" he said as he slunk towards the forest "we are out of that place and I am out of there too, but we're not safe yet, oh no, I've got to get to the nearest town to hide out for a while. Then we'll go back and rescue our horse....Sophie! he yelled under his breath "we'll call her Sophie!

After all he has been through and done in his life he had finally found a name for his beloved steed, and it took escaping from a prison to decide on a name that would suit her. He made it to the forest and looked back at the prison, he turned back to the forest and ran into the trees smiling. He had to get to the nearest town, without getting caught by any guard patrols or getting attacked by bandits.

An Argonian with blue eyes, blue scales and long fin-like ears snuck through the dark hallways, hoping to avoid any guards or other creatures he could run into..

He soon found an open door and crept through. He looked around and noticed some horses in a nearby stable and quickly snuck over. He looked at the many horses wondering which one to take until he finally found a black horse. He gently rubbed its neck and got up onto the horse and soon took off..

Quickly he rode in the direction of the forest. If there was a town nearby he knew there would be guards, and he would be ready for them..

OOC: So how do you like it? still new to RP-ing and it's still probably rusty..

Name: Troj Thick-Bone

Race: Nord

Age: 35

Expert-Master Skills: Master Martial Artist. Can also farm

Novice-Journeyman Skills: Can dispears pain throught his body. Not elimanteting it, but lessining it

Short Bio: Troj was a farmer who practiced hand to hand fighting for 17 years. His daily rutuine was to eat,farm, eat again, practice, and sleep. He always wears a pair of Orchish Guantlents to leave much more pain when he strikes. When he was off to join the Imperial City Arena, though, he was ambushed by bandits. He escaped, but not without a grim reminder. He had a large scar across his back now. He was also changed. Instead of going to the Imperial City Arena, he wandered Tamerial as a drunk. He still trains, but not daily. He can break through wood without his gloves,and with them on can ALMOST break through stone.





IC:Troj awoke to the feeling of liquid falling on his face. He stood up, half drunk, half dead, and looked around. He saw that he was in a bar that was compleatly thrashed.

He didn't remember anything about the night before. He just look around wondering what happend. It was obvious he helped cause the mess.

Then he remembered his gauntlets.

He looked frantically around for them, not noticing the legion guantlents that were sitting next to were he was laying. But when he did notice them, he cursed the gods and puched the stone wall.

After he punched it his hand hurt horribly. He simply focused on dispersing the pain all around his body. Afterwards he was left with many aches and pains, but nothing too bad. He decided he had best get going.

He walked out into a bad part of town. There were beggars and thieves all around. But then Troj relaized he had no idea were he was.


OOC:Im kinda new to RPing so I hope you like it. And I'm using a crappy computure so I can only post every other day. (If I'm Lucky)

OOC: As long as you're not overpowered or have such bad spelling that even a Gaelic-speaker like me can't pronounce it, your RPing is good enough.

IC: Ashina tipped the glass up and let the ale slide down her throat. It was warm, but refreshingly cool by Black Marsh standards, and although it brought out the sweat on her it quenced her thirst enough for her to clear her thoughts. She wasn't far enough from Blackrose to consider herself safe, yet moving into the marshland would be even more dangerous. Assamma-Idan had studied the books, which were far from accurate guides, and he had disappeared. Nirabi wasn't likely to tell where he'd gone, even if she did know. So Ashina was attempting to navigate Black Marsh, a treacherous array of swamps, rivulets, and thick jungles, where she did not speak the language and was an ancient opponent of the Argonian tribesmen she could rely on to get her out of trouble.
She took a long drink. Things weren't going well. The town she was in, the name of which sounded like a Tsaesci strip club, was nothing spectacular, with a tavern, corral, and possibly food and horses, as well, the former of which may even be cooked.
"Who was that knight, then, Ashina?" Ethrador asked, with Nirabi's angered glare following him, her bloodied face reflecting the torchlight.
"An old friend," Ashina said into her ale, putting it down on the counter before following Ethrador back to a secluded table. "Not really a friend, but we knew each other for a while. I take it Nirabi didn't like your trick?"
"She said she'd rip my head off," Ethrador replied, as if he'd been somewhat expecting it.
"Interesting..."
"So what is the knight's name?"
"Gavin Artois. He's a veteran of the Oblivion invasion, doing a lot of the dirty work for some bastard heir. He was also fighting Lord Voryn Dagoth in the Ashlands."

Ethrador sat in the corner of the Inn with Ashina. The Inn was dark, gloomy, dirty and even smelt quite bad. However this didn't bother him that much, it was still somewhere to sit and relax after his long and strenuous day.

The Bosmer listened to Ashina tell him about who Gavin Artois was as he took a few swigs from the ale, which wasn't the best Ethrador had ever had, it was slightly warm but still he had not had a drink for a long time so he was not to fussed. What particularly stood out from what Ashina said was the mentioning that Gavin had done work for ''some bastard heir''.

''That heir wouldn't happen to be Martin Septim would it?'' Ethrador asked, curious to know if Gavin had actually directly served the Emperor.
''Yeah something like that.'' Ashina replied with an uncaring tone in her voice, before taking another gulp of her ale.
''Mmm interesting.....'' There was a brief silence between the two. ''Right well I'm gonna go see if they have any rooms in this place, see ya tomorrow.'' Ethrador walked off patting Ashina on the shoulder as he went to ask the publican if they had any rooms for the night.

''Hey, by any chance do you have a spare room for the night?''
''Yep, it will be a mere five gold for the night, interested?'' The old Argonian publican replied.
''That'll do fine, thank you.'' Ethrador handed over five gold pieces from his pouch and took the key from the Argonian's hand.
''Okay, your room is just through that door and at the end of the hallway, sleep well sir.'' He pointed to a old black door to the right of the bar area.

As Ethrador set off to his room, he caught sight of Nirabi giving him angry looks. Bloody hell, I was only trying to cheer her up! Ethrador thought, confused as to why Nirabi took it so seriously. It wasn't a huge deal for him but Ethrador was a little upset that there were now two people, both of them Ashlanders, who had a problem with him for what seemed to be very minor reasons. Ethrador just decided to not not dwell on it and instead ignore it. He just didn't want any conflicts seeing as teamwork will be necassary to escape Black Marsh.

Just by walking through the corridoor which led to the rooms, Ethrador could tell his room was going to be of poor standard. Once he reached his room door he already had a small problem, the lock was stiff and took considerable force to open it. He was standing in the hallway for a good thirty seconds jabbing the key to make it fit. Eventually it unlocked and the door swung open causing Ethrador to fall in the room. ''About time!'' The Bosmer said to himself, a little louder than he intended to. About ten minutes ago Ethrador was in a the happiest mood he had been since the escape, now, by looking at the room, his mood fell from happy to annoyed and frustrated. The room it's self was dirty, uncleaned and plain repulsive. There was mud and sludge on the walls, the curtain was ripped, it smelt like a corpse pit, the floor was made of cracked mood and worse of all there were dozens of annoying flies buzzing around the place. The flies actually started to swarm Ethrador, he felt them biting his skin lightly. That is when it hit him. He remember reading the Argonian Account books and how the flies in Black Marsh feed of skin. Sh*t! Ethrador thought as he frantically waved his arms trying to drive away the fleshflies. It was to no avail, but in the corner of his eye he spotted a fly swatter on a little table. He grapped it and killed most of the flies in a single swat. He breathed a heavy sigh of relief and slumped backwards into a chair, trying to catch his breath back and saying a quick prayed to Y'ffre for not being eaten alive. Ethrador had the right mind to storm back into the bar and complain to the publican that he was almost killed! Though he had no energy and was not in the mood for arguments, but tomorrow the Argonian publican would get a piece of his mind.

It was when Ethrador got an itch in his hair that he was reminded of the mud he caught there and needed to wash. He walked over to a door which presumably let to the bathroom. The bathroom was just like the bedroom, dirty and uncared for. The 'bath' was little more than a wooden basin, there was obviously no water pipes in the barren areas of Black Marsh like Quianxnixa so he had to simply pour water from buckets into the bath. Once Ethrador was in the bath he just let himself sooth in the water, which was suprisingly relatively nice and warm, and tried to relax his muscle and not think about bad thoughts. He sat in the bath for about twenty minutes washing his hair and body, but thought it would be a good idea not to stay in too long seeing as his dirt and filth would spread in the water.

By the time Ethrador was clean and dry it was almost pitch black outside, meaning it must of been almost 10 o'clock. He just wanted to get to sleep, his body was too fatigued to do any exercises before going to bed. Just as Ethrador was about to hop into bed, he closed the window to make sure no Fleshflies entered the room over night, sure it would be stuffy and hot but it was a better alternative to being eaten in his sleep. He cautiously stepped into his bed, chances are it was probably lice ridden or something was inside it, and rested his head on the pillow. The bed was certainly not comfortable but Ethrador was still grateful for actually having a proper bed to sleep on, for years he just had a bedroll on a cold, stone floor. He closed his eyes hoping for a peaceful sleep.

IC: Ashina tapped the biscuit on the wood, to shake off the flies, and considered tossing it outside into the street for the Argonian beggars that were coming ashore, having changed into their peasant's clothing after a day of being pirates. But she needed to conserve her energy, for she had a hard trek the next day.
She had weighed down a map from the tavern room, the unfolded label from some Argonian drink, and had scrawled the trail she intended to take across it, along with various annotation. Luckily she couldn't write in Cyrodiilic any more than her companions, with the exception of Nirabi and, when he returned, Assamma-Idan, could read Daedric, so she was free to write notes on each of them - Ethrador, Gavin, Beeleez-Ra, and the others whose names she had not remembered, labelled by their races or distinguishing features - in plain sight.
She was already considering revising her notes when she heard Ethrador banging away in the room next door, smacking something and screaming. Even Ashina had standards. But, in the end, taking notes on what Ethrador did in the bedroom was probably a waste of time, even if he'd never be able to read it. What the Breton knight did in the bedroom would be far more interesting, and Ashina thought, a little vainly, that the information would come in handy.
Instead, she laid back on her bed, leaving her armour in a pile on the floor, and thought long and hard about the landscape she found herself in, trying to think of anything she knew that would be of any use. Knowledge of the hist, the Argonian language, and native customs. But there was nothing she could remember. She'd have to laugh to pronounce the few words she knew, and would probably laugh afterwards.
So she turned around and got some sleep, despite Ethrador carrying on regardless.

"I don't like this, Sir." said Gobad as he took a drink from his ale, and almost chocked on the tastes yet again. Even for Human ale, it was terrible. Gobad had been to many taverns in his life, memories he wished to forgot, and this had ot be one of the worst he had ever been in. He shook his head and returened to the matter at hand; The people they had justed saved. "I don't like it at all." he said again.
"I agree." said Gavin who had not even touched his drink. He mearly held the handel of the stein and was staring at the back of the female Dunmer, the one next to the male Bosmer. His view had not shifted away from her since they came here. Gobad was growing worried. He had not seen the Knight Commander this mentaly priocopied since the days after the Great Oblivion Crisis. Gobad knew that he and Gavin were close friends, but he had never told him about this Dunmer. She knew him. How? When? Was it before Gavin became a member of the Knights of the Nine? It must have been, for he would have told Gobad about it, would'nt he?
"Sir. Can we trust them? I dont' like the look of them. The way they entered town was supicius and now the are having a nice drink after a battle?" The orc growled low.
"I know." Gavin said, almost trance like. Then the Dunmer woman got up from her stool and headed upstairs, to her room, Gobad thought. The Orc thought to himself that he had to find out more about this Dunmer. He did not like anyone upseting the Knight Commander.

Gavin stared a the female Dunmer, Ashina. How long had it been, he thought? 20 years? No, it must have been more than that. He was unsure, but it was a long time since the were forced to fight side by side for their own stafty. They never agrreed with each other, in fat, they both had reasons to kill each other, but the fat of the matter was, they needed to help each other at the time or they would have both died. Gavin could not even remember how the split up. He sighed. He knew he was getting old if he could not remember that. Gavin saw that she made her way upstairs. he made a thought; he had to discover somthing he had been meanign to ask.
"We need to find out somthing. Stay here with the Knights, Gobad."
"But Sir-"
Gavin placed a hand on the Orc Captains shoulder.
"My friend, trust me."
The orc nooded.
Gavin walked up the stairs, shoving past the patrions on the way. Nobody really cared, that was the kind place it was and the way you got anywhere in these parts of town. He reached the stairs and walked up, each one creaked annoyingly and he felt that each one would give way to the armour he was wearing. Once he got up. he spotted her door. He breathed a sigh and knocked twice.
"It's Gavin, Ashina. Can I come in. We have to talk. I think you know what about."
(Reply Ashina)

IC: Ashina blinked her eyes open, and sat up, throwing the covers off of her. She'd somehow pulled them up to her pointed ears as she'd slept, despite the fact she couldn't have been asleep for that long, and peeling them off of her was tricky as she was ringing with sweat. Instinctively, she reached out for the bottle of Telvanni bug musk that she kept with her back in the Ashlands and, later, Cyrodiil, and searched for a paper lantern when she did not find it. But, no, a bottle did not materialise, and the nearest thing to paper lanterns were the fires the beggars had lit outside in an attempt to keep the flies away. She'd have to speak to the knight smelling of Argonians, and the thought made her shiver.
"Sera, I'll be a while," she called, getting out of bed and picking up her weathered chitin cuirass. The tabard beneath it would cover most of her up, she thought, so she put the cuirass on and let the spider silk unfurl, making it tight around her thighs which had became, in her opinion, more loose and flabby whilst she'd been in prison, and were no longer the toned, tanned, and tight powerfully-built legs they had been.
She considered putting her greaves back on, but decided against it, simply sliding them and her other clothes under the bed. She didn't want to cover that much up. Finally, having blown down her chest to dry the sweat and to hopefully get rid of the smell, she opened the door.
"Serjo," she said with a smile. "What do you want from me?" She stepped back, holding the door open and spreading her arms as she gestured to the knight to come in. "We're not in the Ashlands now. I don't stand on ceremony."

OOC: I've double-posted to distinguish this post, done jointly by me and PaladinoftheNine, as the work of two people rather than just me. Enjoy, but don't scream for them to do it on the bar counter, please, it's not going to happen and...well...why would you want to see that?

IC: "I have missed you, Sera." Gavin said. He was nervous about seeing his old love once again after so many years. Well, he alwasy wondered if it was love for her or just a fling. He would not put is past her. Still, after all this time it was good to see her
"It's been decades," Ashina replied, hiding that she'd just been about to say the same thing. "And I trust you've forgotten how many?"
Gavin cursed. He had and he knew it. This was one of the parts he was ashamed to have. Was it love, or was it just a fling for him? He kept telling himself that he was a man of honour, and that he would never have a fling with a woman. It was not the way of a Knight, but he could never be sure.
He smiled. "You know us Humans. We age to fast."
He held her hand.
Ashina jerked a little. She'd trained herself, over the years, to make a snide remark when race was mentioned. It was hard to go against that, so she went with it. "No, you never age," she smiled.
Gavin smiled again. "Typical Elves. I see you have noicted that I have not aged much? There is nothing that gets pasted you eyes, eh?"
"No. Nothing," Ashina replied, taking Gavin's other hand.
"So, you did love me?" He bit his tonge. He had no idea why he asked that. He felt ashamed that he needed to know.
Ashina's smile fell, and in its place came an eyebrow that almost seemed reluctant to raise. But Ashina forced it to, although she knew by her own silence that it was easy to see through it. "A little."
Gavin sighed and removed his hands form the Dunmer's waist, where they had became used to the smooth curves of her body. "Look, lets stop all this acting. We both know that we were never really sure and that we where at each other necks, but there was always somthing there. What was it? Why do I get these feelings about you? We are ment to be enimes." he voice was soft, but also serious
Ashina sighed, and turned her face to the window, watching the Argonians circle their fire. "You're right. We're meant to be enemies, by race, colour, religion, and nature. We have nothing in common. I have fought your allies and vice versa. Yet, through some twist of Azura's hair, here we are.'
Gavin walked up to her. He felt cold and nervous. He felt like at any second she was going turn around and stab him wiht a hidden knife, but at the same time, he let his gaurd down, somthign which he knew find well went aginest his training. He just wanted ot be close to her again.
"Then why are we not eneimes?"
'Maybe we do have some common ground, that being here has made us stumble upon. Chance? Plan? Irony? Does it matter?'
Gavin bowed his head in thought then looked up. "No... Maybe not. But what drew to you me?"
Ashina smiled, almost laughed, although she swallowed it before it woke Ethrador. "Circumstances, I'll admit. And I've always had a thing for Bretons. But you were everything I should be, and everything I shouldn't."
"I don't understand." he said, coming closer to her. He was right up to her face, just short of their noses touching. His heart raced and his breath was short.
"It's simple," Ashina replied, letting her mouth hang open as she edged her face nearer, rubbing her nose against Gavin's cheek as she ran her fingers through his hair.
They kissed gently, sharing that which they have not felt for years. Gavin felt happy once again that she was in hsi arms, as he forced his longsword back into its scabbard, and that she had loved him. He felt like a great weight had also been lifted of his shoulders.
"Drink?" Ashina asked, shutting the door at last.
"Aye, thank you." Gavin replyed
"Mud juice or swamp filth?" Ashina replied, freeing an arm so she could reach back onto the end table and raise a bottle to Gavin's mouth, and slowly tilt it.
"Which ever one smells worse. They are the oens with the best taste, or so I have heard." he smiled
"After half an hour in that bed, I smell worse. Want a taste?" Ashina sank further into his arms, taking a sip of the drink for herself.
"I'm getting to the better part," Ashina smiled with a friendliness that took the sting out of the words.
"Please, you know why I'm here, and it's not just to talk about the old days." gavin kept his tone friednly.
"Who's talking about the old days? Go ahead, then, say your piece," Ashina relented, leaning back to give Gavin some breathing space.
Gavin felt that cold stab in his chest again. he felt like he had heart her, but he had to do this. "Why where you running and who from? Why do I get the feeling that your in trouble with the Imperial Leagion again?"
"You mean there is someone alive who hasn't heard about the war?" Ashina asked, hastily dropping the bombshell to get the basics over and done with.
"Knowing you, that would be a surpised." But before she could interject the statment, he said. "What I mean is, when you run, trouble follows. And I want to look out for you, as well and undertsand what you up aginest"
"I'm up against the Empire, of course. They broke the guar's back. Let slip the dogs of war. Haven't you heard about what's been going on in Cyrodiil these last few years?"
"Of course I know. I hear that the Ashlander rebles still fight for their indepenace and all that. You know news always gets to me"
"Then you'd at least have assumed that I, or me and Sakira, at least, my sister if you remember her, were behind it?"
"Your still avoiding the questain, Sera. What was chaseing you and what are you doing here"
"Chasing me from the prison? Or from strong shield city?"
"Your doing it again." Gavin said with a smile. "Just tell me why you are here first"
"I'm here, in Black Marsh, because I was sent here. Imprisoned. Ambushed at the gates of Cheydinhal, and tossed into a dungeon for treason. Amongst other things, which will take most of the night to mention. I'm here, in this swamp town, because a group of prisoners broke open the doors to Blackrose and I was one of those who escaped."
"Your with other prisoners?" Gavin could not help but rasie his voice a little. He already knew that she was a prisoner, but what would people say if Gavin, Knight Commander of teh Knighst of the Nine, helped prisoners?
"Other prisoners, yes. Nirabi and Assamma-Idan, though, are not prisoners. They're still on the run from the authorities in the first place."
Gavin nodded. This was not what he'd wanted to hear. But as for what he wanted, he didn't know.

Ethrador awoke from his sleep in the early hours of the morning. He wasn't planning to stay in Quianxnixa any longer and thought it would be a good day to start trying to find a boat to Cyrodill somewhere. He knew he and the group were a relatively safe distance away from Blackrose but Ethrador still felt it necessary to get a little further away, just to be certain. He rose from his bed sluggishly, still feeling tired. He didn't get a great sleep as there were voices in Ashina's room next to him. He streched his arms and rubbed his eyes to as he lumbered slowly towards the window. The Bosmer gazed into the town and the wilderness, trying to get an idea of what the weather was like. There were many Argonians already up and doing some work, some where loading boats, others were actually trying to fix the dock and it seemed to be that the indolent Argonians were just sitting in the streets, presumably begging for money. Ethrador found it odd that they didn't just help out the others load boats and help repair the docks, they're better of doing that then laying on the streets. The sun was shining nicely and there were no black clouds in sight, the sun actually caused Ethrador to cover his eyes as the scintillating light shined on him. Well at least it's sunny, he tried to think positive as he could almost guarantee today was going to be toilsome.

After scanning the outside, Ethrador had a quick wash in the bathroom. He splashed some water in his face and slapped his cheeks lighly to try and wake him up seeing as he was still feeling slightly somnolent. One thing Ethrador was pleased with was the fact the room had a free shaving razor to use. ''Only bloody good thing about the place.'' Ethrador said to himself as he shaved his stubble. He felt fresh, he had not had a shave in a very long time.

Seeing as Ethrador was so tired last night he just left his cuirass and clothes on the floor in a heap at the foot of the bed, so they were easy to detect. He slipped on his armour and clothes, sheathed his shortsword in it's scabbard, attached his bow and quiver, hoisted his rucksack on to his back and annexed his money pouch onto his belt. Before heading out the door Ethrador spotted on apple in a fruit bowl. He was about to take it before realising that it could possibly be posionous and inedible. He felt cleaner just by leaving his room and was quite frankly relieved that the group would be leaving the town altogether. Ethrador thought it would be requiste to knock on Ashina's door and wake her up, seeing as she would likely want to set off promptly as well. Although he was still a little nervous that she would have a go at him for waking her up, but Ethrador was mostly use to it now. He didn't knock to loud as he didn't want to startle her to much. She answered quite quickly.

''Morning, just thought I would make sure your awake, I'm taking it you want to leave early?'' Ethrador asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.
''Yeah just wait downstairs, I'll be down in a sec.'' Ashina replied with a smile, she seemed happier then usual.
''Okay see you in a bit.'' Ethrador smiled and nodded as he walked down into the tavern.

Before ordering breakfast, Ethrador definatly wanted to make sure that the Argonian publican got a piece of his mind, also he wanted his gold back for almost being masticated by flies.

''Good morning sir, how did you sleep?'' The Argonian asked, before Ethrador could speak.
''How did I sleep? Well I could barely get to sleep for starters!'' Ethrador replied, raising his voice a little.
''What do you mean sir?'' The publican seemed confused.
''Well maybe, just maybe it had something to do with almost being eaten alive by f***ing flies!''
''You mean the fleshflies?''
''Yes the bloody fleshflies!'' Ethrador was strarting to get a little infuriated and was breathing heavily and gritting his teeth.
''Well I'm sorry but these things you need to get use to, and besides you had a fly swatter.'' The publican was speaking in a casual tone, like he had dealed with these problems before.
''What! Get used to being killed? And you could of at least warned me.''
''Well I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do.'' The Argonian turned his head away from Ethrador but he was pulled back to face him.
''Oh yes there is, you can give me back my gold and give me breakfast, on the house!'' The publican shot him a look and slammed the five gold pieces on the bar table.
''Thank you, Ethrador said with an exhausted sigh, and I'll just have some fruit.'' Ethrador ordered and then sat down on a table in the centre of the tavern.

The Argonian came over to the table and placed the fruit bowl on the table and warned Ethrador that he was not welcome to come back to the Inn. Ethrador raised his eyebrows confused. Why would I want to come back? Ethrador thought. He sat munching on his breakfast, patiently waiting for Ashina to come down. He was also curious to who she was speaking with in her room, and was going to ask her when she arrived.

OOC: Again, this is something of a two-person piece of work. Oh, and can the people who just joined at least give us more of a clue as to where their characters are?

IC: Ashina came down the stairs in a hurry, sooner than Ethrador had expected. She saw the tail end of his brief argument with the publican, and hissed back at the swamp lizard, who scurried hastily back behind the counter.
She unravelled her tabard as she approached the table, and dropped it to the floor by her seat. It was a heavy piece of material, although elegant, to be beneath her cuirass on such a hot day.
"What was that about?" she asked, glancing around the room for Assamma-Idan.
"The flies in this place," Ethrador replied. "They kept me awake. And so did you?" Ashina looked up, startled.
"Me?" she said with faked surprise, before shaking her head. "What do you expect from an inn in Black Marsh?" Ashina asked.
"Not to hear Dunmer, for starters," Ethrador replied with a smile. Ashina just nodded in genuine agreement. "And do those flies bother Dunmer?"
"As much as Nirabi seems to think so, no. Anyway, drink up, friend, we've got a walk today."

Ethrador took up Ashina's advice to have a drink, the group had a lengthy trek ahead of them so it was best to get hydrated to avoid getting ill from the heat. He was not a believer of alchohol in the mornings due to the fact it was unhealthy and secondly it would cause him to become de-hydrated, giving him headaches, and being de-hydrated while feeling unwell was not a good combination, especially when you are about to hike through the most inhospitable terrain in Tamriel. By virtue of this, Ethrador took a bottle of water from his rucksack and quenched his thirst on that. He was pleased that his water still tasted fresh and was of a cool and refreshing temperature. Ethrador noticed that Ashina was sweating and that she had taken off her tabard and laid it on the ground, he found it would be unfair to burden Ashina with carrying heavy material like that when he had a large rucksack in which it could be stored.

''You want to put that thing in my bag? It looks quite heavy.'' Ethrador asked with a pleasant smile.
''Yeah that would be helpful actually, thank you.'' Ashina replied as she handed Ethrador her tabard.
''No problem.'' He folded the mantle neatly into his bag. ''So, who were you speaking with last night?'' Ethrador asked curiously.
''I wasn't speaking with anyone, I was praying.'' Ashina replied sedately, obviously not wanting to continue the conversation of that topic.
''Ah I see...'' Ethrador replied, straying away from any more questions on the matter. He was confused though, he could of vouched he heard another voice. Still he was not inclined to disagree with Ashina.


Ethrador had noticed that Gavin still hadn't appeared yet, which was odd for a knight, Ethrador always thought that knights were the kind of people who would be up early ready to fight evil and all that kind of stuff. Obviously not, The Bosmer thought to himself. Though he felt it possible Ashina may have seen him.

''Have you seen that knight anywhere? Gavin I think his name is.''
''I'm not sure, but I heard he found a free room.'' Ashina replied sarcastically.
Ethrador just looked at her and chuckled out of politeness, even though he had no idea what she was going on about.

Seeing as no-one had shown up yet, Ethrador decided it would be a good idea to discuss the plans for getting to Cyrodill. He had a plan, a simple one but it seemed to be staunch. When he was young Ethrador studied some geography of Black Marsh, and even though he didn't actually like going into it's wilderness, he knew a fair amount about it.

''So seeing as we have the time, do you want to hear my ideas for getting out of this dump?''
''Go ahead, I'm all ears.'' Ashina replied intrigued.
''Right, can you past me that map you had?'' The Dunmer slid the map across the table, it was slightly crude but legible enough.
''Okay I would say we are round about here.'' Ethrador pointed to a spot on the map between Blackrose and a city called Soulrest. ''On the western coast there is a city called Soulrest, from there it would be possible to get a boat to Cyrodill, it's likely the boat would dock at Leyawiin. Obviously it won't be easy to get to Soulrest, especially with the Nagas around.
''Nagas?'' Ashina asked with a puzzled look on her face.
''The Nagas are one of the many Argonian tribes scattered through out Argonia, they are abundant in the south western parts of the province. They can grow up to eight feet tall and thier mouths are filled with dripping needle fangs. They actually look more snake-like than any other Argonians. They have been known to attack people in the swampy areas of Black Marsh, and the places we will be going through will be very marshy I'm afraid to say. Just always be cautious of them, and if you do see one of the Nagas, hide. Combatting them would be futile.
''Sounds good to me, as long as you know what you are saying and what to do.''
''Don't worry, I'm pretty certain if we get to Soulrest all we will need to do is pay for a boat, but lets not ambush that one.'' Ethrador ended his statement with a little laugh. ''Oh and I think I should mention that we should try avoid the marshs and keep to the south more, it will be safer that way, there are more trees and shrubbery making it easier to hide if we do encounter any enemies.
''Okay but I'm not stupid y'know, it's fairly common knowledge to avoid swamps, wherever you are.'' Ashina said, a bit peeved that Ethrador would find it necessary to tell her to hide if enemies are encountered.
''I was just making sure. So when shall we set off?'' Ethrador asked, he was getting a little impatiant waiting for everyone.
''Not yet, wait for everyone else to get something to eat and drink first.''

Ethrador and Ashina waited practically alone in the tavern, eating and drinking. By now Ethrador was getting a little agitated waiting around, he hated staying in the same spot for a long amount of time.

Andi ran through the woods, hoping he was going in the direction of a town or village. He had stopped talking to himself for quite some time, ever since he entered the woods he hadn't said a word. He ran through the woods pretty quick, the sooner he can get to civilization, the sooner he can rest up and figure out what he was to do next.

While he ran he started stumbling on gigantic roots sticking up from the ground, it was a very dangerous place to run. Like that saying, 'never run with open sheers', at least you can see the sheers. Andi started to lose sight of the ground as it got darker, but he kept going. He kept his pace through the dark trees and taking wider steps, hoping to pass most of the roots and burrow holes in the ground. But it didn't help.

He took one last step and his body lurched forwards as his left leg caught a root. As his body went forwards, his leg was released from the root and he was in the air. It was as though he was flying, and flying pretty far, and very fast. He was wearing his cape and had his books under one arm and his new sword attached to his belt, and he was flying through the air at a terrifying speed. He was scared as hell, not knowing where he would land or what he would land on. Would he superman into a tree trunk? Or perhaps land in the dirt and violently skid to a stop? It was pitch black and he couldn't see a thing in front of him. And then he landed.

He began his descent by hitting an over hanging branch, and not just a little twiggy branch either, this was a heavy duty branch that if it was cut off the tree it would be a log. After the branch slowed him down a bit, he tumbled to the ground, hit his head and was out cold.

Kenjatsu continued his ride through the woods. He was not sure where he was going but wherever it was he wanted to be far away from that blasted prison as possable..

Suddenly the horse he rode tripped on a large root and sent Kenjatsu flying off almost hitting his head on a rock. He looked back and saw the horse was no longer moving. It must have broken it's neck. Kenjatsu thought to himself with a frown. He stood back up and walked in the direction he was heading..

Kenjatsu looked around to make sure no guards or creatures were nearby. Soon he found himself shivering and trying to keep warm..

Suddenly he hit something. he bent down to see what it was and saw an unconscious man. Must have hit his head hard.. Kenjatsu thought to himself. He sat down and waited for the man to awaken..

is it to late to join in and if not whats been happening i really dont want to read 7 pages of posts to find out.

OOC: It's never too late to join. We've mostly escaped from prison and ended up in a small village (the name of which is unpronouncable for English speakers, but not for me ) by a river, planning our next move. A few others are scattered around the lovely Black Marsh countryside. Hopefully the Imperial Legion and Argonian tribes won't be too much of a problem, but throw them into the RP if you want

OOC: Sorry, a little late for a new character but still....

Name: Firenze

six: Male

Race: Akaviri (Ka Po'Tun) They look rather feline

Age: 24

Skills: Was affected by an Ayleid artifact and can summon/manipulate/enchant electricity. Can climb most structures, man-made or natural.

Appearance: Straight pure white hair, a three lines pyramid tattoo on his right cheek, yellow eyes with cat-like pupils and is equipped in custom dark grey Mithril armour with red F's emblazoned on it (also has a antique compass fitted onto the right hand forearm). A small Akaviri dagger at his waist and a hooded travelling cloak on his back.

Reason for imprisonment: Trading dwemer artifacts, trading illegal artifacts, conspiring with bandits, suspected to be a bandit, killing bandits, killing endangered species, robbing, theft, suspected to commit theft, 1 murder.

Name: Akiza
race: Bosmer
major skills:hand to hand, acrobatics, athletics,destruction
gender: female
appearence: about average height, brown shoulder length hair blue eyes, looks about 19 years old,
bio:she is a bit of an airhead most of the time and has a tendency to foget things but under extreme conditions her true nature comes out (she can remember evereything) and she can be a handful, this is because of a traumatic experience that left her entire family and half her village dead.she is not in full control of her destruction abilities as such she usualy ends up using most of her energy on a single spell, her aim is also dreadful. she also has a mysterious connection with the realm of sheogorath.
arrested for: stealing and attemted murder, never got to blackrose as sevral prisoners that had escaped attacked the convoy and killed the guards.

IC: Akiza gazed into the sky, smilling at the clouds above. she had awoken beside a river with no one in sight and started walking down stream, her bare feet squelching in the mud. a butterfly flew past and she began chasing it laughing and murmuring to herself. she slipped on a rock and fell in, and started to struggle as she was sweapt away by the current screaming and kicking. the water bubbled around her hand for a few seconds as she erupted into a fit of blind rage, before she slipped unconsious hearing something whispering in her ear.

Andi woke hours after falling unconscious. He lay in the dirt for about 30 seconds before getting up and shaking his green hair to get the dirt out and brushing himself down. He picked up his books and checked that his sword was still fastened to his belt, it was. And then he froze. He realized there was somebody sitting near him. He slowly turn around to see and Argonian sitting in the dirt near the tree. He must be a tribesman or a bandit, these woods where filled with Argonian tribes.

Andi jumped back to put some space between himself and the Argonian. Andi had never held a sword in combat in his life, but he drew his green gemmed Elven short sword as if it were a reflex, as if the sword drew itself and just used Andi's hand to hold it.

"Who are you! What are you doing here! Andi yelled at the Argonian, not an aggressive yell, but a cautious yell. This guy could have been anyone, a bandit, a highwayman - although in the woods and not on a road it was pretty unlikely, he could have even been a bounty hunter hired to track down the escaped prisoners.

"My books! Your here to steal my books! I knew someone was trying to steal them. No,wait a minute, if you wanted my books you would have taken them from me before I woke up".

He thought about it for a while and put his sword back into it's sheath and asked the Argonian "What are you doing her? Where did you come from? Is there a town nearby? Are you from a town?

OOC: I sense that some new players are wondering how to join the main group. Well, full poetic license - just appear in the tavern if you want! Or talk to me, Chris, or PaladinoftheNine if you want help thinking of ideas. Maybe the other RPers could help? Oh, and the following post is a double post by both me and Chris. Anyone who wants a refreshingly good bit of drama should get stuck in

IC: Ethrador looked around the gloomy inn, trying to spot any one of the group. He was starting to get irritable and kept fidgiting with his feet under the table. Even though he tried his best to keep cool and collected, Ethrador's patience gave in.
''Where in Oblivion is everyone?'' he yelled this a little louder then intended, causing the inhabitants of the tavern to turn and gaze at him. He buried his head in the bottle of water, to keep unnoticed.
Ashina reacted almost as if she took offence, but she had used that phrase herself at times, and did not like hypocrisy.
"Good question. Considering the only Imperial hold here just got ransacked, I expected a party."
Ethrador chuckled at Ashina's little joke, mainly due to the fact it was true. Ethrador would of expected more people around with the Imperials gone.
''Well Gavin should be here should be here at least, I thought he would be the kind of guy to be getting up early, ready to fight evil and all that. By the way do you know if he is travelling with us?'' Ethrador asked, curious to know if the knight would be staying with them. In honesty, as much as Ethrador thought Gavin has a pleasant man, he didn't want to keep hiding the fact that that he and his party are a bunch of prison escapees. Ashina shrugged.
"Not sure. Possibly. It depends how he feels," she replied, nursing her drink.
''Hmm I see...'' The Bosmer was happy that Gavin possibly wouldn't be staying with them. He let out a small smile, but was puzzled when Ashina didn't return it, looking at him as if he was somehow wrong about that. Thinking she shared his thoughts about the knight, he continued. "''You know, about that Gavin. As much as I respect the guys piety and kindess, it's gonna really get on my nerves if he keeps snooping around in our affairs, I mean it's not exactly his buisness. See, I just wanna get home y'know but with this guy about that going to hinder my chances.'' Ethrador was starting to get a little agitated so he thought it would be a good idea to let out his problems in conversation.
Ashina blinked, and stared for a moment, raising her drink to her lips but pausing before she took a sip. She thought better of it, and put the glass down.
"I think each one of us wants to be home. I know I do. You're lucky. You have nothing to do before you can be...well, wherever you want to go."
''Yeah I know, of course we all do, but you can't deny that this guy is stopping us in our tracks?'' Ethrador was beginning to sweat, he took a swig from his water bottle and let out a realiving sigh.
"Stopping us in our tracks?" Ashina retorted, taking a sip of her drink to drown out what she'd wanted to say, which would betray her true feelings. "How?"
''Well maybe the fact that he's getting in the way of everything, think about it, as soon as we stepped into this [censored]hole he swarms us with his knights, even if he was trying to help he keeps poking his nose into what we're doing. And I feel he will only continue to do so.'' Ethrador was starting to feel a little guilty talking about Gavin behind his back, but couldn't help himself, he felt it was necessary.
"Are you suspicious of him, then? I don't think he's out to trap us, Ethrador, you're becoming as paranoid as Assamma-Idan would be if he was here. I mean, me and him were alone for..." Ashina checked herself, picturing herself biting her tongue. She prayed to Azura in her head, to keep Ethrador from picking up on that little bit of information. But Azura was apparently washing her hair - Ethrador realised, and almost spat out his dtink when he heard Ashina mention Gavin and herself being alone.
''You what? You were alone, when was this, why didn't you say anything.'' He looked at Ashina perplexed. Ethrador knew she regreted saying anything by the way she ended her sentance.
"He's a knight, in service to the Empire, as far as I can tell. I had to assess his firepower," Ashina replied quickly, combining several of her most useful excuses and letting it slip from her tongue without thinking. Ethrador looked at Ashina strangely, he had slight doubts that she was telling the truth, by the way she rushed the sentance.
''Are you sure thats you were doing? And I take it what you said about praying last night was just a load of rubbish?'' Ethrador replied, studying her. She gave up, and slammed down her glass in defeat, rolling her eyes.
"Oh no, I was praying, alright..." Ashina said childishly, knowing that not telling the truth would be even more transparent.
''Yeah I'm sure Ashina, I should of suspected you were full of it. Oh and thanks a bunch for keeping me awake for half of the bloody night, I really appriciate it.'' Ethrador responded sarcastically, starting to get a little angry with the Dunmer. He had underestimated Ashina's defensiveness, however, and she made a cur response without missing a beat.
"At least I wasn't going at it with wasps!" she snarled. "And what do you mean full of it? Full of what?"
''I mean Ashina, that you're full of crap, to give it to you bluntly. And I'll have you know that those ''wasps'' would of skinned me alive had I not done anything, but no I'm sure that you would have no trouble with them what so ever.'' Ethrador was starting to breath heavily out of his nostrils, the argument was starting to take an effect on his nerves.
"I'm full of crap? Me? Do you have any idea why I've not told the truth to you, Wood Elf? You spelled it out - he's a knight. A paladin. Isn't that supposed to be against my beliefs? Isn't it something of a scandal? Did Ayem sleep with Ada'Soon Dir-Kamal? But what else am I meant to do? It's natural, isn't it? A healthy sign?" Ashina wiped her eyes, intending to hide the tears welling up. But her red eyes were doing that on their own, and she only drew attention to the fact that she was crying. "It's twenty years since I last spoke with Gavin," she said, slowing down, but far from calm. "Things have changed since then. I'm not just a girl any more. I'm a girl and a politician. I've had to make sure everything I've said or done is true to my image for the last two decades of my life, since the Zainab defeated my father in battle. The tribe was impoverished. It was my role to set standards. Now that that's done, I'm still having to set standards, and to be a good example, when in reality I should be looking up to someone as my role model. This sounds silly, but the freedom of being in prison...the freedom from that, from censoring what I said to make it compatible with what the people wanted...it was like a fresh start. I could change what I did and how I acted. But now that I'm back out, I'm going to have to get used to the old ways again. It'll take a bit of time. Just be patient. Please."
Ethrador listend to Ashina's speech as well as he could, but kind of got lost half way through. However he could tell that she was feeling upset by the tears forming around her eyes.
''Look, I err well..'' He was stuck for what to say but tried to do something to cheer her up, even though he was still a bit frustrated.''Okay I understand what it's like to be deprived of loved ones, it is hard and I can say that, but for the sake of the group you cant hide things from us, we need to have trust one and other to get out of this cess-pit. Look I say we end this petty argument, the bickering is pointless. And look I'm sorry if I upset you okay.'' Ethrador was reminded to the fact that teamwork and cooperation were vital for escape, so he tried to end the dispute between them.
Ashina smiled, pleased with herself. For the first time in ages, she felt as young as her years.
"No problem. Sorry for dumping that on you. I had to say it to someone, and you've helped with that. One day I'd love to return the favour, muthsera." Ashina stood, and dried her eyes with the tabard she'd taken off, massaging her arms. "I'm going to go for a walk, to stretch my...well, for some fresh air. You can join me, if you like. We'll go when I get back, if you're ready."
Ethrador closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the stress building up within him. He looked up at Ashina.
''I'm gonna go get some air as well, this stuffy tavern is making me feel uncomfortable.'' With that he got up of his chair, which was hard and made his back ache, and strolled over to the inn door.
"Oh. Well, I didn't mean now. Wait outside for me, I'll join you in a second," Ashina called after him, as he walked past Nirabi, who was most likely gazing at him in anger, but decided to just ignore her. When he got outside he breathed in the morning air, which he regreted instantly. The foul smell of burnt ash and plain dirt attacked his smell senses. Ethrador decided to just wander around the town aimlessly, trying to calm himself and think positive.

OOC: wow, I'm so far behind. lol. I'm gonna just start from my old post, where I'm facing my fellow knight brother


IC: Beeleez-Ra faced his old friend. The Argonian's eyes fell.
"What do you mean we were the ones who let you down? The Imperials have been a friends to us and has given us a great chance to succeed as a race. And you're going to just throw that away, by attacking me?" Beeleez-Ra reached over his shoulders and unsheathed his two broadswords. His mind was set. He had to fight his brother knight.
"I have taken an oath to not allow any other race to interfere in the lives Argonians, even if I have to fight a civil war." Beeleez-Ra went into a fighting stance. The knight unsheathed his own sword and went into the same stance.
"Prepare to die, Beeleez-Ra. The knight charged and swung the sword. Beeleez-Ra parried the sword with one sword and swung with the other. The knight sidestepped. Beeleez-Ra jumped back and jabbed out. The knight parried.
"When will you learn? You won't be able to beat me. I'm a lot stronger then you." Beeleez-Ra took a breath. He closed his eyes to test a strategy. He only had one chance and if his plan failed, he would be dead.

OOC: I'm gonna drag this fight scene out

OOC: Don't worry about being behind, we can linger in the village until everyone who wants to has caught up

as the current carried Akiza down stream her mind wandered to her past. she was small, her earliest memory, there was just a blue light and a voice she couldn't quite make out. she was ten, fires raged all around and her brother lay before her, his head sevral feet away.

a cold fealing came over her as an armored hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of the water. the guard had been patroling the river for escaped convicts when he saw the bosmer fall in. he rode his horse down to the bridge and reached over barely managing to grab her wrist. hauling her up he checked to see if she was still alive, when she started moaning he lifted her up and rode with her to the nearest town. The town was dirty and an old tavern stood on the side of the road. he carried the soaked bosmer in as the entire tavern went silent. sevral argonians and a couple of orcs stared menacingly at his armour and a drunk imperial dropped his mug full of ale in shock. the bartender didnt look happy to see him in there. the guard paid for a room and left the elf sitting in a near by chair and walked right into a dwemer on his way out, "hey i recognise you, your one of the ecapees from black rose, die!" with that he drew his sword and attacked.

ooc: sorry if you didnt want to get into a fight galowglass but its the only way i could think of that ended witth akiza being with the main group

OOC: Doesn't bother me, there are almost no rules in this RP besides the usually forum rules. But to drop you truly with the main group like you want, I'll need to bring your character back out of the inn again, if that's okay - read on for details lol

IC: "Next time, spare me the formalities," Ashina gasped, jumping up from her seat. Her only weapon was her tabard, so she flung it into the face of the charging guard, and watched him flail around in a desperate attempt to get it off. He obviously suspected Ashina had a weapon on her, and was about to strike him with it. He did not realise that the amused Dunmer was as helpless as he was, unarmed and barely a few feet from him.
But Ashina was helpless, Nirabi was not. She stormed in like a flash of lightning, the distance between her and Ashina made up for in a single leap across the counter, scattering loose papers and bottles, and she grabbed the guard by the neck by the time the wine glasses hit the floor. It was snapped the following second.
The guard fell to the floor, and Ashina breathed a sigh of relief, the notion that Nirabi might have heard her confessions earlier not even crossing her mind. Ashina, Nirabi, and the Bosmer that followed them, walked off outside to rejoin Ethrador, and ended this post ingloriously.

Akiza began to stir, she was assaulted by the smell of strong ales and beer. as noise of the inn started to come into focus, one word grabbed her attention and her eyes to snap open ,DIE, her mind began racing back to when she was 10.

the door was flung off its hinges by an armour clad orc, his axe dripping with crimson blood, he scanned the room and saw two bosmer huddling in the corner. the older one, a male, shilded the girl but not for long one swipe of his axe sent the head rolling across the floor. he turned his attention to the girl "your going to die here" he bommed as he lifted the axe and laughed at the look of terror on her face

the sound of breaking glass snapped akiza back to reality just in time for her to see the guard fall to the ground dead. she recognised the armour instantly, they were the ones that had beat her and locked her up, she rose from the seat and followed the ones resposible for the death of the guard out picking up his sword as she passed. outside in the fresh air and the breeze which chilled her soaking body to the bone she began to cam down, the panic and rage she had felt moments ago faded and she looked at the sword curiously as the light reflected off it. It wasn't until someone called out to her that she realised that as she'd been walking she'd stepped in something brown and foul smelling. she droped the sword and began to shake her foot and sent the horse droppings through the air hitting a bosmer, who was with the dummer that had called to her, in the face. she started walking towards them looking at her feet and looking really embaresed, leaving the sword where it had fallen.