Day 40

There is always a huge down-side to wandering aimlessly through a land you have no or hardly any geographical knowledge about - you are bound to get lost. Well, so was I.
I had no idea where I was or where I was going. It was time to set myself a goal again, I needed better gear. Weeks before, someone, I can't remember her name, warned me about wandering into Daedric ruins. Unfriendly worshippers and even less pleasantly tempered monsters usually occupied the ruins was the bottom-line of the warning. I threw the advice in the wind as soon as I came across a ruin of the sorts I had never seen before. Towers with points, jagged edges of broken walls, apparantly aeons ago, and, as I was warned, crawling with creatures so terrible I almost ran.
The urge to find a better weapon got the better of me.
Curse my sense of adventure!

I got far more than I bargained for. Before I even got the chance to enter the shrine, I was assaulted by creatures I used to run away from as fast as I could. A waist high creature with what looked like a collar came running in at an alarming speed. I raised my shield and braced for impact.
I reaped the fruits of the exercise and the weeks of fighting enemy after enemy and managed to keep standing behind my shield. Frantically the creature tried to bludgeon my shield aside in an effort getting to me. Remembering what the master of arms had taught me, I used the creature's mindless ferocity and strength against it. I prepared my sword and let the shield slip a little, just enough for the creature to break through and impale itself on my sword because of its own speed.
The path into the shrine was clear.

Inside, I tried a different approach. Instead of barging in, banners raised, I snuck in, using the shadows to hide my presence. Before the residing worshippers were even aware of my presence, two Dunmer were lying mortally wounded on the ground, an arrow to the throat is just as effective against spellcasters as a silence spell.
The third was alarmed before I got a clean shot, I stepped on a loose rock revealing my location. These things usually happened when I tried to sneak up on someone, that's why I almost never bothered.

Drawing my sword I ran at him howling a battle cry. Mid-air my attack ceased. A glow was emmitting from the Sorcerer's hand, paralyzing me.
There was nothing I could do, I had no cure. I had to wait for the effect to wear off.
Several agonizing seconds passed as the sorceror cast spells at me.
Suddenly, my hands were free and I finished the attack ending with my sword lodged in the Dark Elf's chest.
Still I hadn't found a decent sword. Weren't these ruins supposed to be swarming with Daedra wielding the best weapons?

Disappointed with my findings in the ruin so far, I grabbed the best next thing. On a bowl near a shrine of a really ugly guy's statue I found some valuable gems.
Imagine my surprise when out of nowhere a warrior emerged wearing a black and red armour from hell and was swinging the scariest looking sword I had ever seen. That's what I was looking for. The only thing I had to do was kill its current owner.

What a battle that was. This guy knew what he was doing. Upon my standard attack - a overhead chop as a distraction, a quick sidestep and a slash to the midsection - he did the exact correct thing. He dodged the chop rather than blocking it so he was ready for the slash to his midsection. Most, lesser, swordfighters were caught off guard by this attack and were usually cut down with the slash. I remember grinning maniacally. This was what the master of arms had trained me for throughout my entire youth.

We blocked eachothers' every attempt getting the upper hand in the battle. This was no fight, this was a dance, as deadly as a hidden serpent and I never felt more alive. The first miss-step would mean defeat and certain death for either of us.
I almost ended the fight with a quick lunge straight to his gut, just before my sword hit him, he ducked and rolled to the side, recoiled and brought up his sword diagonally across my chest. If I would have been impatient and immediately had stepped in not recognizing the trap, the thrust would've cut me in half. I could feel the air displacement from the blade on my face as it flashed by.

This was the opening I had waited on, I grabbed the iron dagger from between my belt with my free hand and rammed it between the creases of his armour, into his armpit. The Daedra dropped his sword and fell to his knees. I ended the dance cutting off his head with his own sword in a single swipe. I'd call that poetic justice.

Another wonderful story. Still the neat conversational tone that you do so well.

I didn't realize Rales was such the swordsman! I guess he got his new weapon, but what a heartpounding task to get it! :toughninja:

Ooh... I hate keep pestering you with the mundane, but perhaps take a peek at this sentence: 'I ended the dance cutting of his head with his own sword in a single swipe.'

I can't wait to see where Rales and his new sword of doom are headed next!

@Acadian: Thanks for the kind words!
Describing a combat scene is hard! You do it far better than I. I tried to make it interesting but I'm not quite sure I succeeded. The scene of the Dremora and Rales duelling turned out far shorter than I had hoped.


Several hours later, I continued my search through the shrine. I figured I might as well sweep the entire thing while I was there anyway. The containers in the shrine turned up quite a collection of enchanted trinkets, ingredients, some books that taught me some nice tricks and a pile of gold.
I just had the fight of my life and ended up with a huge treasure. What more could I want?

A Dunmer, clad in an armour blacker than the darkest of nights saw me before I saw him.
His hands lit up in a ominous glow and I faced a monster, devoid of skin and with bones protruding through its flesh. Worse yet, the fleshy beast threw spells at me.
I could feel the strength seeping from my already fatigued body. If I didn't defeat it or its caster soon, I wouldn't be able to move at all.
Digging into my own arsenal of spells, I cast a spell to temporarily increase my strength and cut down the monster. My new ebony blade came in handy, it cut through tissue and bones like it wasn't even there.
The severed parts of the creature disappeared in a puff of smoke clearing the way for me to the conjurer.

The expression on his face flashed between fear and rage. Before he could gather himself and conjure up another of those awful beasts, I physically attacked him, forcing him to have to defend himself with steel. I smiled. After having crossed swords with the Dremora Lord, this was going to be a breeze. I don't think he realised I was playing with him. My sword grazed his cheek, leaving a bloody trail; I jumped out of the way when he tried to hit me with his axe; kicked his legs from underneath him when he was too static and slammed my elbow into his nose when he did close in.

The far superior reach of my longsword was too much for him. Once more he tried to summon something but before he even had the chance I slashed at his hands which prevented him finishing the spell.
Deciding I had enough practice with my new sword, I dove underneath one of his slow desperate swipes and thrust my blade upward, through his chin and base of his skull and added his armour and his black and red Daedric axe to my collection.

Returning to the main level of the shrine, my eye caught a door I had previously missed. Carefully - the painful memory of the trapped door in the ancestral tomb was still somewhat fresh ? I disarmed the trap and unlocked it.
Behind the door was a Redguard woman ? Malexa - tied with rope. After having cut her free she told me she had been captured by cultist for some kind of heathen ritual. I ensured her the cultists wouldn't be performing any kind of ritual soon. It took her a while to understand what I had meant. In fact; when we headed out of the shrine ? I had promised her to return her to her husband she had been travelling with ? she suddenly burst out in laughter when she saw the first bloody corpse. Only there she understood what I had meant.
'Suits them right,' she hollered. 'Are they all dead?'
I nodded, bringing a smile to her face.

Wonderful again! I really like this.

Combat. I'm no expert either. D.Foxy's thread on combat writing is helpful. As far as I'm concerned, your combat descriptions work. In your stories, it is more about what Rales is thinking than how he swings his sword. Keeping up the humor and a bit of vagueness in your combat scenes serves you well. It might help at some point to allow Rales to get humbled/injured some in combat to demonstrate his imperfections. You have stated he is a swordmaster, yet still it would be fun to see him overestimate himself.

I noticed you broke perspective/tense here:
'That question was answered when I continued exploring the lower level of the shrine.'
Rales could not know this before it happened. Now, there are several ways around that and perhaps that was your intent. Perhaps you see this as a journal that he is writing with after the fact knowledge. Your conversational 'as we go' tone however generally keeps us right inside his head as things happen. This is not a criticism or suggestion that you change it; Simply pointing out an observation for your consideration. Just a thought.

'His hands lit up in a ominous glow and I faced a monster, devoid of skin and with bones protruding through its flesh. Worse yet, the fleshy beast threw spells at me.' It may be just me.... When I read this, I thought Rales' enemy had turned himself into a monster. It was only a sentence or two later I realized that his enemy had conjured a summon. I love your description, but it caused me to reread the paragraph. After rereading, I saw what you were cleverly doing, but nevertheless, at least this reader got a tiny bit confused initially. Again, just a thought for consideration. Please do not let it detract from the rest of my comments.

I surely hope you continue with the ambling and fun adventures of your very likeable character!

ARGH! My Oblivion game crashed yesterday and I missed your story! Sorry, I spent all day trying to re-copy files onto my game data yesterday. - But I got to read two chapters this way - both chapters are great, but that last chapter was spectacular! Really powerful writing on that last chapter!

@Acadian:

Thanks for pointing that out. :goodjob:
I figured I could get away with it as he writing down what he remembers from his adventures long after they happened. But confusing readers is something I'd rather avoid. Doesn't suit the style in the fan-fic I guess.
I'll deffo give your comment some thought because I can see where it's coming from.
edit: Solved it by removing the dodgy sentence

About the conjurer/beast; it was a bit of an experiment trying the "show, don't tell" thing. I wanted to avoid the cliche: The conjurer summoned a fleshy beast and then the beast attacked me (oversimplified obviously). I thought it was more interesting the way I've incorporated it into the story. More mysterious I'd like to think.

I also agree that he should get injured because he get's too overconfident. The arrow head in the beginning is a bit thin eh? I already have a plan for that.
There is so much to blunder about with magic

@mALX: I understand you're a bit under the weather. Hope you get well soon!

This story sure ballooned when I wasn't watching. You're doing a fine job, and the more intimate look at the island is enjoyable.

Thanks for reading Shades! I appreciate it.
I am working on the next installments but needs some refinement. Maybe later today.

A short one:


Having a companion for a while was a nice change. Malexa turned out to be a member of the great house of Redoran. She even knew my cousin, Athyn, and that I could find him in Ald-Ruhn. I wasn't planning on visiting him yet ? I wasn't ready for that ? but it was nice to know in advance. During the journey to re-unite the couple we talked about lots of small things. Some things I already knew but there was a lot I didn't know. She told me of politics, religion and whatnot. She wouldn't stop yapping, I didn't mind at all.

I was highly interested when Malexa told me about the Tribunal. Of course, I had heard of the famous Three, it was part of the Redoran upbringing, but I had no idea they had been mortal before they ascended to god-hood thousands years ago. In return; I told her about my adventures and why I was wearing the feathers in my hair ? I had forgotten about those ? which amused her to no end.

Day 42

We found her husband, Sason, the next morning after having spent the night cramped underneath a high placed rock-ledge so we were safe from predators prowling the area. I borrowed her my sleeping bag to keep her warm. It nearly took an hour before my teeth stopped pvssyring with the cold after we woke up. She insisted on leaving right away. She didn't want to waste time making a fire and having breakfast before setting off. I knew better than to argue with a lady.
Besides, she knew where to go.

Seeing the happy couple together again was heart-warming, yet, it also reminded me of how lonely I actually had been the last few weeks. I hadn't seen a familiar soul ever since I had left Seyda Neen.
The swamp town was a dump, true, but it was the closest to what I could call home.
I longed for a friendly, familiar face.

edit: Acadian pointed out some awkward parts. Thanks m8!

I have been missing a treat by not reading this- an error I have now repaired.

My favorite part of this story is how much you reveal about Rales through his voice and mannerisms. He may not be a "good" person (for some definitions of "good"), but he has a system of values and a code of honor that he follows. Nicely done.

Your ability to write as if in conversation with someone is Awesome!

You continue to paint a delightful picture that is inviting to read. :goodjob:

Anxiously awaiting the next installment!

Thank you for reading Trey!
Actually, it was your "Story of Trey" that partly inspired me (the game did the rest ) writing a 1st person MW fan-fic so praise is really, really appreciated.


Chapter 6: Alchemist

Sason and Malexa were heading to the town Ald Veloth. Since I had decided to go home, I offered to trot along.
Walking all the way back to the south from all the way up north was not my idea of fun. From Ald Veloth it was only a short jump to Gnisis and from there I could go anywhere easily enough by stiltstrider.

The Redguard couple was more than happy to have me as company. With me around, they were sure to arrive safely. Sason offered to carry some of my gear. After the raid on the Daedric shrine, I could barely carry it all out so the offer was more than welcome. Swapping the mail cuirass for the ebony one I took from the dead Elf helped a bit as well.

By the Nine, that thing was heavy. I was sure I'd never get used to the weight of heavy armour. It uncomfortably pressed on my shoulders and neck, rubbing the dust and sand, swept up by the perennial winds, between the armour and my neck and shoulders. I had a dustrash in no-time. I wasn't sure what was worse; carrying the damn thing or wearing it.

Once arrived in Ald Veloth, Sason and Malexa asked me if I'd stay the night, it was the least they could do. I politely declined, I was too eager to head back south.
Promising them to visit them if I'd ever be in the area again, I said my goodbye and left for Gnisis.

Several hours later, in the dead of night I arrived and immediately took the stiltstrider to Ald-Ruhn, Balmora and last stop, Seyda Neen.
Well rested I arrived the next day in the early morning. Starving but with a bounce in my step I went to Arrille to have breakfast.

The moment I stepped through the door, the Elf's eyes lit up. 'I see you've been doing well for yourself?'
'You could say that,' I replied with a smile.
'Yeah, I can tell.' He glanced me up and down. 'Where did you get that fancy armour from?'
'Long story. I'll tell you all about it, but how about some breakfast first?'

He knew exactly what I liked. In no time at all I was enjoying a pair of well-deserved fried eggs, freshly baked bread and a steaming cup of tea while telling Arrille all about my adventures up north.
Fargoth had also grabbed a seat, of course he had heard of my return and was listening to my tales while his eyes were glowing with anticipation like that of a child. I might have exxegarated some stories to amuse him.

Several hours later, I dumped most of the gear I had collected in the shack I inhabited, including the ebony cuirass. What a relieve to take it off! If I'd be able to sell it, my fortune would have been made but Arrille said I could forget about that. No one in Vvardenfell had that amount of gold.
However; he had just heard a tale from a trader, who had come by recently, about the strangest thing he had ever seen in Caldera. According to the travelling merchant, in the town Caldera there was a scamp trader who might be able to give a good price for it.
I just had to see that for myself. In my travels I had encountered lots of scamps but those were hardly intelligent enough to recognise a superior warrior, let alone to do business and talk with you.

I continue to just really enjoy this!

Nice crisp little segments of what Rales is doing. Like getting a letter from a good friend.

What fun tagging along!

The interaction with Fargoth is so well done! Your writing is realistic and natural, without ever having played Morrowind (past Seyda Neen) I feel like I have seen the people as you have made them come to life in your writing - Awesome writing !!!!

Thank you for the kind words, the praises are like wings.
Here is the result of those proverbial wings, another installment.


Day 46:

With all my adventures and raiding of tombs, caves and shrines I acquired quite a fortune. Gold itself is no good to anyone; you can't eat or drink it. You can invest it however.
Which was exactly what I did. After having spent some days doing nothing at all in Seyda Neen, I took the stiltstrider back to Balmora and went to see Ajira for some more alchemy education and tricks.

Ajira was impressed with how quick I absorbed her teachings. Telling me once was enough; soon I had a good understanding of what apparatus had which function and how to make most of the ingredients I used to make a certain potion.
By the end of the day there was not much more she could teach me; lots of practice and experiments were what made a good alchemist she said.

I knew exactly which potion to make; if there was anything I had learned, it was that it's nearly impossible to cast a spell or swing a sword true when your tongue is on your knees.
I gathered ingedients to make potions to reduce the effect fatigue had. It was a fairly simple potion but I soon found out I could make stronger potions with longer duration by choosing ingedients that had more concentrated properties.

Choosing such ingedients proved to be risky though. I got it wrong on several occasions and made potions that had detrimental and sometimes even deadly effects next to the effect I wanted to create and had to dispose of several, quite valuable, potions. I couldn't risk having them lying around lest someone found them. I collected them in a watertight casket and sank the caskets into the deep end of the Sea of Ghosts eventually.

After a few days I had perfected the process and was able to make potions that allowed me to run for hours and still be able to cast a spell and be effective in combat without the necessity to rest first.
It wasn't hard to see such potions would come in handy for everyone, not just adventurers like me. I traded several with Ajira for ingredients to make new potions and sell them off to anyone who'd buy them.

Most I sold under the price I was offered for them, making it interesting for the trader to buy a lot of them and sell them again for a decent price so they could restock with me soon. It didn't take me long to acquire a decent fortune this way.

I am intrigued by this, will something come of this? - ARGH! I wish I had played Morrowind! Lol - Great addition! I have poisoned myself accidentally in alchemy before, lol. Couldn't figure out why I was suddenly over-encumbered, lol.

Well, the idea was that there shouldn't, hence the watertight casket.
Not a bad idea though. I'll think about it.

Ah, so Rales is becoming quite the alchemist and entrepeneur...

I have found that this is great advice:

'it's nearly impossible to cast a spell or swing a sword true when your tongue is on your knees.' :rofl:

What a pleasure to read!

Day 50:

Caldera was fairly easy to get to. For a small sum of gold a Guild guide in the Mages Guild would teleport someone from one guild to the other instantly. I wished they had warned me about the weird feeling you'd get once arrived at the destination. The first few seconds after arrival I couldn't tell what was up, down, left or right. Fortunately, the feeling soon dissipated.
The local mages had heard of the scamp trader, I could find him just around the corner in the Ghorak manor. I thanked them for the info, sold some potions to the Caldera Mages Guild alchemist and went to find Creeper, the scamp trader.

The travelling merchant Arrille had told me about hadn't lied. On the second floor in the Ghorak manor there really was a scamp trader. I made a deal with him; I'd sell him convenient potions far beneath the commercial price and he would make sure they got sold so he could buy some from me on a regular basis. He said he usually needed a week to get his goods sold. The gold I made on selling my potions over several weeks far exceeded the value of the ebony cuirass so I kept it as decoration.

Back in Balmora I made the same deal with Nalcarya, the proprietor of the White Heaven alchemist shop. With my current fortune I couldn't help but snickering in how wealthy I had thought myself with the missing taxmen's reward. It was dwarfed by what I had in my pockets after my successful trade-runs.

Most of it went on training sessions. I was adequate with a long-sword, fairly accurate with a bow and all the running around in the Ashlands had left me with a good stamina so needed no training in those disciplines.

Like a sponge soaking up knowledge I looked up trainers to teach me the arts of the other weapons and heavier armour than my favourite - light armour. Better weapons would carve through the light armour - like the Chitin one I usually wore - like a hot knife through butter. I had seen it happen several times with my own ebony blade. Fighting with it was both exilharating and terrifying at the same time. The blade didn't as much as kill as mutilate my enemies in the worst possible ways.
I cringed every time at the sound of the blade slicing through armour, tissue and bones. It made me feel more like a butcher than a sword-fighter and dreaded the thought of what would happen if I ever failed to block an enemy wielding one as well.
I had to make sure I was stronger, meaner and better equipped than my opponents.

First, a couple tiny typos: some-one = someone // proprieter = proprietor // succesful = successful // exilerating = exhilarating // the very end of the story is missing a period.

Great story as always. A couple wonderful things struck me in addition to your continuing conversational style:

1. I love how you described the disorientation associated with teleporting, in typical Rales wide-eyed wonder.

2. The latter part of your story smoothly reveals much about how Rales feels when fighting. I so hope you will continue bringing him to life this way. His travels are fascinating, but even more so as we learn more about his feelings.

:goodjob:

I must be repeating myself but anyway; Thank you for the continuing support! :foodndrink:

I tried about 6 or 7 different ways of spelling exhilarating but they all seemed wrong so I stuck with the one that appeared to be most like it should

Oh, starting with all the way through to the end of the chapter the emotions and feelings were palpable! Awesome writing!

Finishing up the chapter:

Day 55

Several days of constant training hardened me. Skills I had never bothered with, were getting more familiar to me. I even learned to endure the weight and restricted movement of my limbs in heavy and medium armour although they would never be as comfortable as the light armour I preferred.
But then again; what good is being comfortable when you're dead?

A Nord trainer had tried to convince me into using an axe rather than a "puny" long-sword. According to him an axe was a real man's weapon and the toothpick I was swinging was for little girls.
I politely declined but did take him up on his offer learning me some basic skills in it.
After all; you can never know when it could come in handy.

I will never be a great axe-fighter. It's perfectly understandable huge Nords are able to handle them but for a relatively small guy like me it's just not convenient swinging a weapon heavier and almost taller than you are.
However; handling those encumbersome weapons for days did put some muscle on my scrawny figure. This first few days all I got was a terrible muscle ache in my arms, shoulders and back. I regretted and cursed the very day I was born every night I couldn't get asleep because of my sore and bruised body. No matter how I turned and rolled in my bed, there was always a aching part that kept me from drowsing off.

The following nights the nightmares I was having recently got gradually worse.
Most I can't recollect but the name "Nerevarine" lingered. It felt as though it was referring to me, as if I was supposed to be him. Some books I had read not long ago mentioned the name Lord Nerevar Indoril. I wondered if it had anything do with my dreams. It was time to go back to Caius; I considered myself ready for what-ever he wanted me to do. Maybe he had an answer to who that Nerevarine character was and what the hell it had to do with me.

Another delightful snapshot of Rales.

You did a wonderful job, with very few words, of simulating the passage of time and the hardening of Rales' body as a result of the rigors of training.

As to his dreams, I am unfamiliar with Morrowind, so I shall rely upon you to show me as you progress... I shall learn as Rales does.

Very nice!

I remember this part from Helena's "Neveragaine" - Great Job, RemkoNL!!!