RemkoNL, This continues to be a joy to read. Your character seems to be 'discovering Morrowind', which is fun for me as I have never been.

A couple things that struck me -

"Dew was trapped on the spider's webs between the trees,"
What this says to me is that one spider had spun several webs among several trees. If that is what you meant, fine. I wonder though if you instead meant:
'Dew was trapped on the spider's web between the trees," or perhaps more likely:
'Dew was trapped on the spiders' webs between the trees,"

"To me, it looked like an insect's exoskeleton and made the guard looking very formidable." I would use look instead of looking here.

"There was the option of taking the stiltstrider back to Seyda Neen but that meant I would arrive deep in the night. I aimed to spend the night here, in Balmora.
A local Nord woman pointed me towards a place to stay the night, called the Eight Plates. It was cheap but the food was tasteful and the bed soft."
This was a bit jarring. Your character is chronologically having a wonderful wander around the city. The very last sentence jumps way ahead and ends the story. Within the context of the paragraph, the character would not know the information presented in the last sentence yet.
I see a few options you may or may not want to consider.
1. Continue to include descriptions and pacing to match the rest of the story until you reach the same point. It may not be your intent to lengthen the story simply to provide that information, so this is perhaps not the best solution.
2. Simply move the last sentence to a new paragraph to show the break in time that occurred. This would help the reader to assume the character spent the night and gained the information first hand. This seems consistent with your intent, but I think the next option may be even better.
3. Modify last sentence to something similar to: 'She told me it was cheap, but I could expect tasteful food and a soft bed.' This way it is clear and logical how the character gained the information. Falling at the end of the story, it also suggests the character is going to spend the night there.

I surely hope you take my comments as a measure of how much I like your writing and not as being overly picky.
I am enjoying the same light, conversational style and the character's descriptions of things he has not seen before (since I haven't either). Please continue!

@Acadian: Not at all m8. You were right. It should've been spiders' web and the last paragraph was indeed weird. Thanks for pointing that out :foodndrink:



Day 11

The next morning I decided it was a good day to search out Caius Cosades and get rid of whatever it was Selles Gravius had given me to deliver at Caius.
After asking around, I found out his house was in the poorest district of town, the north-eastern part.

Not knowing what to expect, I knocked on what was apparantly Caius' house and waited for a reply. An elderly voice said I could come in. I was greeted by a balding Imperial man, only wearing trousers. Something smelled familiar in his messy house but I couldn't put my finger on it. Untill I started looking around that was. I saw familiar satchels, empty bottles and a pipe underneath his bed. The man was a Skooma addict!

'You have a package for me I presume?' he asked me.
'Possibly,' I responded. 'After you tell me how you knew that.'
He smiled mysteriously and said it was his job to know.
This didn't sound like a in-coherent addict at all. There was something in his eyes, something sharp that made me think maybe his addiction was a cover. But for what?
Since the old man already knew I decided it wouldn't do harm handing him the package ? after all, it was destined to him anyway.

Caius briefly went through the contents of the package ? I couldn't see what it was ? he looked me over a bit and asked me if I was ready to accept orders from him. Again, orders. Thinking that nothing is for free, not even a prison realease, and that I didn't have a job yet, I might as well accept. It sounded exhilarating as well.

'Good,' he said and then proceeded to swear me into what he called the Blades ? the secret Imperial intelligence agency. So that's what the cover was for. The man in front of me was his Imperial Majesty's spy-master.
'Intelligence? Then what am I doing here?' I joked.
He frowned but didn't answer.
Instead, he told me to practice my skills, buy some weapons and training or buy a pair of shoes for all he cared, handed me 200 drakes and said I should return when I felt up to the mission at hand.
Caius also taught me a secret hand-signal with which fellow Blades could recognise each other.
'Oh, and get a job, you'll need some sort of cover. I'd advise you to join a guild,' he pointed out just before I left.

Day 10 was pretty funny actually... "I found out much later those strings were in fact the animal's nerves." that's a bit disturbing though funny....

You have added some personal touches that make the storyline yours - great write!

Thank you very much. I aim to please. ^_^

Just read Day 11. You continue with a nice, light style. It is simply fun and immersive to read.

As mALX said, touches that make it yours 'buy a pair of shoes for all he cared.' Little odd touches like that are memorable.

Two tiny things just happened to catch my editory eye, both from the last line or two of the story: eachother (each other), and advice (advice is the noun, I thing you want the verb, advise here).

I sure hope you continue. This is a pleasure to read!

I haven't finished by far. I mean to put Rales through the Oblivion crisis as well.



Joining the fighter's guild didn't really appeal to me. If it was anything like in Cyrodiil ? and why wouldn't it? - it would be just a glorified name for a bunch of mercenaries. A place with swords for hire and where every life was counted in gold - as in how much would anyone pay to end someone else's life.
I needed ? no, wanted ? something more glorious, something honourable. I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to help people, not simply smyth them with a piece of iron with a pointy end.

Next to the fighter's guild was the guild of mages. It occurred to me that if I wanted help with my alchemy, this would be the place to find it.
Ranis Athrys, the head of the Balmora guild, told me to talk to Ajira I I wanted to be instructed in the art of alchemy.
I could find her downstairs, all I had to do was follow my nose towards the foul odour.
I wasn't sure whether she was referring to Ajira or to her potions.

Ajira was more than willing to help an aspiring alchemist out. For a fee obviously.
I doubt she would've been as helpful if she had known what she got herself into.
She was shocked when she asked me to give her the ingredients I had collected so we could start with lesson one. She shoved all my ingredients into a bin underneath her desk saying the ingredients were useless. All of the properties of the ingredients had been corrupted by throwing them together. Made sense if you thought about it ? which I hadn't.

She took some fresh ingredients from a drawer in her desk. I could see she had each ingredient in separate small pots, neatly labeled with name and properties.
Ofcourse she had me pay for the ingedients. The next thing she did was hand me bundle of small satchels. Seeing my puzzled face she said they were to store collected ingedients while out in the wild. 'Or would you prefer to carry a desk with you,' she asked with a semi-serious face.
She had me pay for the satchels as well. It was a small price to pay to prevent another disaster that had happened on my first alchemy try.

The next thing was to learn the properties of plants available in Vvardenfell.
When I asked Ajira how she knew and kept them apart, she pulled a huge book from a cupboard behind her with all plants, other ingredients and its major properties. For now, I was allowed to use the book to find plants with similar properties that would together create a certain effect. But if I wanted to become an efficient alchemist, it would be advisable memorising the most important ones.
'Do you have the necessary apparatuses?'
Proudly I dug up the mortar and pestle from my bag and put it on the desk in front of me.
'Where's the rest?'
'The?. rest?' I hadn't a clue what she meant.
'Yes, the rest. Calcinator, alembic and retort.'
'I don't have those.'
More expenses, my gold was drying up fast. Anyway, after buying the additional required apparatuses we continued. Ofcourse only then Ajira said I didn't really need the additional tools but they would help making better and stronger potions.

The Khajiit alchemist had me starting with preparing a basic potion with only the mortar and pestle. The use of other tools would be adressed in the next lessons.
She told me to find the ingredients to make a relatively simple potion that would restore fatigue and gave me some useful pointers to help me out. It didn't take me long to seek out the necessary ingredients in the book: a Kwama egg and a loaf of bread. There are plenty more but those are amongst the ones most common. Making the potion however, was a different matter altogether. It took me ages to get it right. I added too much water, not enough water, cooked it too hot or too cold. Too much of this or not enough of that. I was really starting to lose my temper when finally I got it right. I had made a useful potion, one I wasn't afraid of drinking without poisoning myself.

Eating the ingedients would have the same effect but would be far less effective than with a concentrated potion, she said. But would taste far better. We had quite some laughs over the afternoon. I always enjoyed the company of the Cat-folk. They are uncomplicated, usually friendly and have a wonderful sense of humour. Many of my child-time friends had been Khajiit. I guess that's why I was so shocked in Addamasartus.

At the end of the day, my alchemy skill had increased greatly. I knew (well, in theory) how to make the most practical potions and already had memorised the main properties of some of the most common ingredients. Ajira told me most ingredients have more than one effect but only the more skilled alchemist knew which those were, how to recognise them and that I should forget about experimenting with those for a while, unless I had a serious deathwish. She also warned me that I had been lucky that I hadn't killed myself with the poison I had made in Seyda Neen. It could have been far worse than the effects I had encountered.

Awesome! More, More!!! Your writing in this chapter was so natural, it was as if you were actually talking to someone instead of writing it! I love that!

:read: Yes. Just a very fun style to read. For the same reasons that have been mentioned by me and others, I continue to enjoy this. Nice job RemkoNL! :goodjob:

Once again, thanks for the praises. I hope you are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it. You guys have encouraged me writing more. I wasn't planning on another update this week but I might be able to update before the week ends.

Yeah! Your enjoyment in writing it shows in the reading of it. This last chapter was an Awesome read!

Had some time to spare today so polished the chapter I had planned on posting after the weekend. But how can I deny my fans?

Chapter 3: Rings

Day 12

Straying through the, now almost empty, streets of Balmora I was growing restless.
Caius had said I should find a job at a guild. I had already decided the fighter's guild wasn't what I wanted. I considered the guild of mages but I sincerely doubted I was mages guild material. Sure, I enjoyed dabbling with alchemy, especially now I - more or less - knew what I was doing but spending hours and hours researching a spell didn't sound very exciting.

No, if I truly wanted to make a difference and help people, I needed to find something else. Since I had put myself on the, in my eyes, noble path of freeing slaves I thought I'd join the legion. I knew for a fact that in Cyrodiil, where I had grown up, the people frowned upon slavery and as such, as its defender, so did the Imperial Legion.
The Moonmoth Legion, south-east of Balmora didn't need anymore recruits but the Legion's commander, Radd Hard-Heart, mentioned the Gnisis Deathshead Legion might be looking for recruits.

Gnisis wasn't really around the corner. It would be a several day walk or half a day with the stiltstrider. I decided on half-way. I took the stiltstrider to Ald-Ruhn and proceeded by foot to Gnisis after asking some directions. I wanted to see my birth-land, what better way than crossing it on foot?

It was on the third day of my journey that I came across a crying Breton lady.
She explained her ring had slipped from her finger into the small pond nearby when she was taking a drink from the sweet, clear water. When I asked her why she couldn't retrieve it herself she told me she was a dancer and needed to get to Gnisis and couldn't afford getting her hair wet. It had taken her hours to get it just right. I could see why, she looked absolutely stunning. I prayed she didn't notice I was staring.

'Lady,' I said confidently, 'don't cry, I'll find your ring.'
I stripped myself from my armour and clothes to my loincloth and dove into the pond. Even with the clearness of the water, it took me nearly 2 hours finding her ring.
Triumphant, I surfaced holding out the ring only to have an arrow swooshing by, just missing my left ear.
As fast as I could, I moved away from the pond towards the pile with my weapons and clothing while keeping my head down.

Synette, the Breton dancer screamed that she wanted the fancy ring on my finger and said if I didn't hand it over her friend would put some holes in me and take it from my lifeless body. I shook my head and told her she couldn't have it. I had almost reached my weapons, slowly I moved my hand behind me to reach out for my sword. Cleverly I managed to keep the dancer between me and where I suspected the hidden archer to be.

Out of seemingly nowhere, Synette pulled a dagger and jabbed at me. I managed to avoid the blade by letting myself fall backwards and grabbed my sword and bag at the same time. I was well aware I was unarmoured, if I wanted to get out of this alive I would have to be clever. I knew if I'd face the 2 women at the same time with only a sword, they'd have me for breakfast.

Oh, I have heard about this quest!

:read: Yes. Still that wonderful chatty style. Like listening to a friend tell a story.

It makes one want to curl up with a hot drink and just listen (read). Very enjoyable and fun to read!

:whisper: Now you must remember, I am not familiar with the quests of Morrowind. I hope you do not leave me hanging too long with our friend in the middle of a fight for his life!

Thank you. I am glad you appreciate the style. I know it might not be as well-written as most of the fan-fics popping up recently but I never meant for it to be like that. I always meant for it to be light-hearted and amusing.



I scrambled back on my feet and ran to a cave I had passed about half an hour before I encountered the lovely Breton and her mysterious friend. Even though she had lunged at me with a deadly weapon, I still thought she was pretty and I didn't really want to end her and her friend's life. Surely, there would be another way that didn't result in either having to hand over my ring or with me or them ending up dead?

Luckily for me, the ladies had lost my track and I was safe for a while. Ruffling through my bag I dug up a pair of invisibility potions I had found a few days ago. Knowing the inherent problems with invisibility, Ajira had explained any action would cancel the effect immediately, I exited the cave after having rested for a while and headed back to my armour. I just hoped the effect would last long enough to reach my armour and the rest of my weapons unseen.

My plan worked. I managed to reach my stuff, quickly grabbed it all, drank the second potion and ran back to where I had hidden before so I could put on my armour in safety.
Armed and ready and quite frankly; rather pissed off, I figured it was time for a talk with a pair of misguided girls.

Unfortunately for her, Synette was prettier than she was clever. She attacked me, again. With me being fully armoured. 'It's not too late,' I warned her. 'Put down your cutlary and I will put down mine.' Uncertainty was reflected in her eyes and they kept darting off to a place behind me. Towards the hidden archer's position I assumed.

There wasn't an arrow stuck in my back yet, meaning maybe the fight could be diverted.
I heard a clang of a weapon being dropped behind me. Focusing my attention to the Breton in front of me I saw tears welling up in her eyes while she dropped her weapon as well. I lowered my sword.
'If you want, I can escort you back to civilisation,' I offered.
She said that wouldn't be necessary, the girls were capable of taking care of themselves.
I gave Synette her ring back and wished the girls all the best.
'Look me up if you are ever in Gnisis.'
'I will,' I responded and continued my path to fort Darius.

Very nice.

Your light touch lends itself well to even more serious situations, like the subject of this story.

Well done, and as always, a pleasure to read!

Riveting! It was so natural, I love it! It is as if I am hearing you tell me the story rather than reading it - really great RemkoNL !!!

This one is a bit darker. Oh, and longer than previous installments.


Chapter 4: Legionnaire

Day 17

Two days after my run-in with the ladies at the pond, I arrived in Gnisis and proceeded to the fort. The "fort" was hardly more than a wall into a mountain with some beds and a storage room and it was utterly devoid of soldiers and activity.
I was in the wrong place. I wandered through Gnisis and noticed soldiers entering and exiting a large building. Thinking that must be the barracks, I entered the building and started asking around.
The Legion's commander, General Darius was to be found in the Madach tradehouse, in the center of town, an Orc legionnaire told me.

I left the barracks and headed off to the tradehouse. The place was bristling with people. I made some short inquiries by just mentioning his name:'Darius?'
'Downstairs and straight ahead,' the proprietor told me.

Politely I introduced myself to an Imperial clad in gold-coloured armour, his stature and armour were indication enough to me this would be the Legion's commander, and stated I wanted to join the legion.
'Do you think you have what it takes to represent and uphold the honour of the Empire,' he asked me.
'Yes sir,' I firmly answered.
'Well then, recruit. Report in with Optio Bologra for your uniform and return to me for orders.'
I saluted as I had seen the Legion do in Cyrodiil, wheeled around on my heels and marched to the barracks for my uniform.

'So, you're back,' the same Orc I had spoken to earlier, rumbled in their typical way.
I nodded and said the General had ordered me to get my uniform from Optio Bologra.
'That would be me, drillmaster Optio Bologra,' Optio said and handed me an Imperial ring-mail cuirass.
'Now, get out of here. Report with the General.'
'Yes drillmaster!'

'Why are you not in your uniform?' the General roared.
"I.. I euh..,' I stumbled over my words. 'I haven't got around to it, General Sir,' was the honest answer.
'I'll let it slip this time because you are a new recruit, but from now on you will wear your uniform at all times, understood recruit?'
'Yes. Sir!'
As quick as I could I changed my light Chitin cuirass for the mail cuirass.
'Now, are you ready for orders?'

Another "yessir" later I was briefed upon my mission.
I was to retrieve a land deed from a Dunmer woman who had lost her husband in the local eggmine.
The Legion needed the Zabdas land deed for an additional dock so the town could finally be reached by ships and that I shouldn't take "no" for an answer.
I could see it being useful to the Empire but I couldn't help but thinking bullying a widow out of her land didn't seem honourable at all. Had I made a mistake joining the Legion?
I put my prejudice aside and decided to investigate on it first before expressing my opinion.

Widow Zabdas' house was just west out of town. It didn't take me long to reach the location.
The area was lovely, it was nearby a river and the surrounding pastures were green and lush. Several Guars were grazing happily on the fields.
The calmness of the area was highly in contrast to my state of mind. I really wasn't happy with my mission. I swallowed a lump in my throat and knocked on the door.
'Go away,' was what I got.
'Muthsera Zabdas, I wish to speak to you concerning your husband.'
'Will it take long?'
'No, not really.'
'Well, allright then. Come in.'

She opened the door, offered me a seat and then asked me to state my purpose for being here.
I explained the Legion had send me and that they wished to acquire her land. The Legion would provide her another place to live. I didn't know if they would but if there was some decency left, they would, I was sure. Of course I didn't tell her the General hadn't mentioned an alternative house at all. There and then, I made up my mind that if the Legion wouldn't, I'd take care of that myself.

'First, the Legion murders my husband and then desires my land as well?' She was furious.
'Murdered?' I murmered. The General hadn't mentioned anything about a murder. 'What do you mean?'
'Yes, murdered,' she yelled. 'My husband was one of the most experienced miners around. I don't believe for a second he had an unfortunate accident as that foul beast says. I will never, ever, relinquish my land,' she spat.
I had obviously overstayed my welcome. I got up, greeted her politely and walked back to the tradehouse with a heavy heart. I was torn between my duty towards the Legion and my own personal feeling of right and wrong. How was I going to explain this to the General?

The General turned out to be a lot more understanding than I could have ever hoped.
When I briefed him with what widow Zabdas had told me, Darius ordered me to investigate the miner's death and complimented me on being discrete. He could see a bright future for me with the Legion, he concluded and dismissed me.
I can't express how relieved I was. There was honour in the Legion after all!
The best place to start the investigation would be the eggmine, east of town.
Again, I was investigating a murder.

A short walk later I encountered a Dunmer guard outside the eggmine who said no-one was allowed to enter. When I told the guard I was here on Darius' orders he unlocked the gate.
'Just be careful, the Kwama queen has contracted a Blight-disease.'
At that time I had no idea what a Blight-disease was but I knew diseases so I took his advice to heart and thanked him for his warning.
I investigated the entire upper level of the mine and asked the workers what they knew or had seen. None of the workers knew anything and had seen just as much. I suspected one or two to be lying but I couldn't prove it. There was nothing else to do for me but investigate further.

Had I known Kwama warriors were that territorial, I would've been more careful.
As soon as I set foot through the door into the lower level, lightning forks seared passed me, barely missing me. There were too many for me to handle so I raced past them. A bit farther, an Orc legionnaire barked at me to get out of this place and that I had ten seconds to do so. He was leaning leisurely on an axe the size of a small child and muscles, thick as boatropes, were flexing under his green skin. I muttered some excuse I can't even remember and ran towards a door, leading even further down. Facing this Orc in battle would be my downfall, I was sure.

The moment I stepped through that door, I froze. An apparition, nearly transparant, floated above an underground river. I readied my sword and prepared for battle.
Slowly, the ghostly figure floated towards me but not in a threatening way at all.
From experience, I knew ghosts never came close, they kept their distance and flung nasty spells to you. This one didn't. Instead, he started talking.

'Have no fear, I won't harm you. Listen to my tale and do as you will afterwards.'
I nodded briefly in agreement and the ghost continued:'My name is ?.Zabdas, I was a miner here untill ill fate came upon me. A quarrel with a guard was my downfall.
The murderer's axe is still lying with my broken body, proof that I was struck down innocently. Retrieve this axe, and let justice prevail so my weary soul can finally find peace.' Upon his last words, the apparition moved to the side and pointed towards the underground river. I followed his lead and peered into the river. Underneath the surface I could see a corpse and an axe. So far, the ghost had spoken the truth.

It was too deep to dive into with my armour on, the weight would surely drag me drown and I'd die a horriful death.
To prevent such a gruesome fate, I undressed and left all my gear on the embankment and dove in to retrieve the axe. While I was under, I checked the corpse for proof as well. I didn't find much although in the victim's midsection a gaping clevege was a sign he had been struck down with an axe, and judging the depth of the wound, he had been struck hard. I suspected the poor fellow had died instantly.
The words the widow Zabdas had spoken arose violently.
'As that foul beast says,' she had concluded her rant. Had she meant the Orc in the other room?

Having found the proof I needed I scurried back to the tradehouse, past the ill-tempered Orc and the even worse tempered Kwama warriors.
'This is Lugrub gro-Ogdum's axe allright.' The corners of Darius' mouth turned downwards in a sad grimace.
'How could he have betrayed the Legion? He is one of my finest,' he murmured in a melancholic monologue.
Lifting his head he said:'Recruit, you will have to execute the traitor but do try to find out why he has betrayed his duty first.'
'Yes Sir!' I saluted and marched out his office without displaying any of my doubts about the mission I had received. How was I, a lowly recruit, going to defeat a highly revered legionnaire and one of the Legion's finest warriors? Once more I had doubts about my choice joining the Legion. I needed to think this all through. In my own time. Hoping it wouldn't be considered desertion, I left Madach tradehouse and Gnisis. I had enough of orders for a while.

I especially like the personal touches you add that make the story your own!

Nice storytelling! Fun to read. I did note a couple minor typo/grammar things. Perhaps you are having a slight trend towards not spacing between words sometimes?

"The Legion needed the Zabdas land deed for an additional dock so the town could finally reached by ships" I would insert a 'be' between finally and reached.
"Ofcourse I didn't tell her the General hadn't mentioned an alternative house at all."
Of course.
"I followed his lead an peered into the river. Underneath the surface I could see a corpse and an axe. Sofar, the ghost had spoken the truth." And peered. / So far.

Again, a pleasure to read your, 'talking to a friend' style. Enjoyed this.

D'oh :facepalm:
Corrected.

A/N: The scene with the green blob happened in my game exactly as I describe. The Ogrim really got himself stuck enabling me to get away.

Chapter 5: Feathers

Day 28

I wandered for days and days in a row. I didn't record much of what happened, I had sunk far into dark thoughts and self-pity.
One event brought me back to reality. I stumbled into some cave, tired, hungry and wet. Nearby the entrance I sat myself down, went through my inventory, sharpened my weapons, repaired dings where necessary, mended my armour and slept for a while. My dream was haunted by visions of dead people, screaming Mer and a huge Orc trying to bash in my skull.
I woke up in a sweat because of a rumbling sound from deeper within the cave. I snuck farther into the dark hole to find out what it was that had awoken me so rudely.

Deeper into the cave, I reached a ledge with a ladder into a pit. In the pit several bodies were strewn around some sort of green blob with arms and legs. The blob didn't try scaling the ladders so I assumed it was too heavy, too big or both. Shocked, I realized how unnerving that assumption was. If this thing understood it was too heavy for the ladders, it also meant it was sentient, intelligent. I would have to take care not underestimating it.
Not really fancying taking this monster on up close I started with shooting lots and lots of arrows at it from a safe distance. It didn't even notice the pinpricks.

When I unleashed all the spells I had in my repertoire on it, I only managed to anger the thing and draw its attention to its assailant, yours truly. If this would take any longer I feared it might find a way out of the pit somehow. In a desperate attempt to get rid of it, I scaled down the ladder, slowly approached it and with all the strength I could muster hit it with my sword. Its thick, scaly skin deflected my sword easily. Spinning around it swung its smithshammer-sized fists in my direction. I managed to dodge the first one but was too slow to dodge a swing with its right fist. It hit me straight on the head, sending a spur of pain through my entire body. I could swear from that day I was about an inch shorter than before. It certainly felt that way.
There was no way I was going to be able to defeat this creature, I turned and ran.

The creature tried to follow me but somehow it managed to get itself stuck between the walls of the pit, the ladder and some crates - it wasn't that intelligent after all - I got away from it safely and even had time to grab some of the goods the former occupants, the ones lying dead all around, had left behind. I also found some sort of meat I had never encountered before. It smelled strangely familiar, even though I had never seen meat with that specific colour before and scurried up the ladder, out of reach from the monster. Safe on the ledge, I took a satchel from my bag to preserve the meat's properties and put the satchel with the meat into my bag. Maybe an experienced alchemist would recognise it.

After the encounter with that monster I had seen enough caves and huge monsters for a while. I headed north-east and explored the coastal area. I was made painfully aware my skills weren't up to scratch. I lived on what I could find or hunt, slept in caves when it was raining and in the open field when it was dry. The following weeks, more times than I'd like to recall, I barely escaped a grisly death by the hands of creatures, bandits and by something conjured up in Oblivion and dropped into Vvardenfell.
Venturing deep into the ash-regions of Vvardenfell I heard a wailing sound but couldn't pinpoint its origin. 'Not another Bosmer,' I amused myself by imagining the strangest of scenarios just to keep my mind from wandering into melancholy again.

Something resembling I can only describe as a bat, only bigger, smellier, equipped with a tail ending in a sharp end and a ferocious beak, had its mind set on having Dunmer for dinner. Its dinner was cold steel rather than warm Dunmer, the creature looked a lot tougher than it actually was. A stab and a slash had it falling to the ground. I plucked its tailfeathers and stuck it in my hair as a trophy. There was no-one as witness to how silly that must have looked. It was just one of those things to keep me occupied in the lonely wastelands called the ash-region.

Deafeating a single one wasn't the problem. I soon found out where there was one, there usually were more. A lot more. Finally, I had some target practice.
Swordplay had always been one of my strong points. Having been brought-up as a Redoran, I was trained with a longsword ever since I had been strong enough to carry one. Before that, I had been playing with a wooden sword.
That day, as I was cooking the flying rat's meat above a fire, I just wished I had a better sword. The enchanted blade I had found was starting to loose its effectiveness, fighting that green blob made me painfully ? literally - aware of that fact.

The weeks wandering around aimlessly, I had the chance and plenty of time to practise my marksman skill. Compared to my sword-fighting it was rather pitiful. I wasted arrow after arrow but after days of practicing, missing and retrieving arrows and running from enemies I couldn't even hope to defeat yet, slowly I was starting to hit my targets. The flying horrors were soon dropping like flies ? untill I ran out of arrows that was, and I was starting to look like a bird myself, with all the flying rats' tailfeathers in my hair.
For their sake, I hope they reproduce fast, otherwise it wouldn't surprise me if I had managed to wipe out the entire pests' population thoughout those weeks.

:read: Brisk and beautifully written and from the perspective of an endearing character. What else could one ask for? The fact that I don't play Morrowind seems irrelevant, for you take me there with each story!

Let me quote one sentence for a couple reasons:
"When I unleashed all the spells I had on my repertoire on it, I only managed to anger it and draw its attention to its assailant, yours truly."
This is just one example of your clever tongue-in-cheek style that I enjoy so much. I selected this one though because you might want to consider the the word 'on' in the first portion. It seems not quite right to have spells 'on my repertoire' and the use of on is a bit redundant since you use it again only three words later. Might you consider 'in my repertoire'? Similarly, you might apply the same evaluative process to your use of the word 'it / its' in the sentence.

Now, I don't know about you, but I just hate it when my hair gets full of flying rats' tailfeathers.... :lmao:

RemkoNL, this is a joy to read! :goodjob:

I see what you mean. To be honest, I struggled with that part finding new ways describing the Ogrim while he doesn't know what it is yet. I already used blob, I changed one "it" for "the thing" but I am still not quite satisfied.
Isn't it always "what you have on a repertoire"? Is it grammaticaly correct to use "what you have in a repertoire?"

And can I just say, I am humbled by your and mALX's comments? Thank you!

Repertoire. I shot from the hip with that comment based upon what sounds right to me. I did some digging for us, but couldn't find a real definitive answer. I guess, perhaps it depends on how you view your spells. If you view them as a 'list' of spells, then perhaps using everything that is on the list is right. I view my spells as a 'collection' of skills that I reach in to select from. I'm sorry I don't know the real answer. I would use 'in', but that doesn't necessarily make it right, eh?

Hey, mALX and I know good stuff when we see it! :nod: