» Mon Dec 20, 2010 7:17 am Chapter 1: Return to Cyrodiil
A single gargantuan tidal wave struck the shores of the Gold Coast just outside Anvil. In the sand laid the collapsed body of a large, muscular and battle-scarred Imperial, surrounded by the shards of his armour and his broken sword lying several yards away. Parts of his skin shone brightly red in the sunlight, as though it had been crystallized. He began moving about, coughing up sea water. Regaining conscience, the man rose to his feet and wiped off the seaweed and sand off of his soaked and partly torn clothes. Looking around, he noticed that only one of his belongings that had survived was his journal. The leather cover had his name engraved on it in black letters - Thengil Blackmoor. He picked it up and started turning the pages. Strangely the water had not washed out the ink. The water proofing spell that the guild mage had placed on it when he was a child was still in effect. Reading the pages of the past two years, the memories of how he ended up here started coming back to him. So much had happened since he left Cyrodiil. The sorcerers, the crystal, the Daedra, Orion and his raiders..
"The voice.. That voice that guided me.. It's gone! My mind is my own again!" he said to himself as he closed the journal.
When that strange crystal was crushed back in his castle in the Shattered Archipelago, it unleashed a force of magick so powerful it destroyed the entire island chain, killing everyone in its path, save for Thengil. His body absorbed the shards and was carried away by the riptide. The tidal wave that brought him back to Cyrodiil chipped off a large chunk of land off of the island of Stirk before crashing down the shores outside Anvil. But the truly strange thing was how the crystal was destroyed. A young boy leading the revolution against him used the Hammer of Stendarr to smash it to pieces. How such a young and frail child could carry the weight of the mighty hammer, or how it disappeared from its place in the museum of Mournhold remains a mystery. It shattered the dangerous gemstone and released the being trapped inside of it.
Now free of the strange creature's grasp, Thengil regained control of his own body. He looked at his arms and found the crystal shards embedded in his skin, but they didn't do anything. Without whatever it was that dwelled within, it was now basically nothing more than shards of ruby. The fact that they were merged with his body did seem a bit strange, though. People would notice, and they would probably start asking questions. Being a rather introvert person, Thengil would prefer that they don't.
"I have to find something to replace these rags before I show myself near people.. But where could I possibly.. Hey, maybe there's something in that cave over there."
Thengil made his way to a cavern entrance not too far from the beach. A couple of nearly burnt-out torches were mounted on a broken door frame. He walked through and found something that used to be a makeshift study. The ground was littered with quills, scrolls and ink bottles, next to a broken chair and a table that was turned up-side down. Some of the scrolls however were rolled up and were sealed with the Mages' Guild insignia. These were spell scrolls. He picked up a few of them in case he'd meet something unpleasant further in.
He walked through a dimly lit passageway until he got to a large chamber. It was pitch black, impossible to see further than a few feet ahead, but further into the chamber he noticed a light, and began walking towards it. When he had gotten about halfway to the light, he could hear several growling noised and an unbearable stench. Trolls! I'd know that smell anywhere! Realizing the danger he broke the seal of one of the scrolls and spoke the word written on it.
"Molagste!"
A bright flash lit up in front of him, but the magicks from the scroll were absorbed into his body rather than casting the spell. For a brief second, nothing happened, but then the shards in his skin began to glow red, illuminating himself and the trolls surrounding him. A huge cloud of flames were then ejected from his body and filled the entire cavern. When the flames dispersed, all of the trolls had been burnt to ashes and Thengil was lying on the ground, gasping for air.
"Bloody hell, I'm not doing that again anytime soon."
He rose back to his feet, noticing the ground below him had been crystallized by the magical flame. The stench of burned troll fat was so nauseating that it caused him to vomit a few times. Slowly he made his way to where the door used to be, which was now burned to ashes as well. Inside he found a small room that had been carved out from the rock. There was a desk with a lit candle on it, along with several gold coins, a knife and a welkynd stone. Next to the table was a wardrobe. Perfect! Just what I was looking for! On the floor laid the decaying corpse of the previous occupant of the cave. The corpse looked malnourished. The poor sod must have barred himself in here to hide from the trolls and died from starvation. He opened the wardrobe and found a pair of green silk trousers, a matching green brocade doublet and a pair of green velvet shoes. This fellow must have been rather wealthy, and really liked the colour green.. After changing into his new clothes, he pocketed the money, strapped the knife to his belt and picked up the welkynd stone. The moment his fingers touched the stone, it was absorbed into his body, causing his eyes and the crystal shards to momentarily glow a bright blue. After it had faded, he felt revitalized. An energy completely filled him.
"Whoah! What was that? I feel like a completely new person. I feel like I can do anything! It's like I've been born anew."
With renewed vitality, he made his way out of the cave and headed towards the city of Anvil, ready to start his new life on the Gold Coast.
