[helen buchan]

Danus Maximus. Helas Folly. Evening.

I listened as Titus was asking some questions.

"You're an eager bastard aren't you? Since the Jarl now knows about the sympathizer; i will try to get him into siding with the empire. Right now to me it's too late but I might have another assignment for you tomorrow. For now if you want you can try to find anything that could support Imperial support among the populace in the hold or help convince the jarl to sign up. That'l give you extra money. Meet me here by morning tomorrow and i'll give you another assignment. Now excuse me but the innkeeper is taking too damn long. I'm going to take a little walk around this place."

[Curveballs On Phoenix]

Varyn, Hela's Folly, Evening



Varyn continued to walk over to his belongings as the Imperial turned away. A light tune was resonating through the inn by the time he reached his trunks. The Old mer turned to find its source. "Hmph, first they think they can brew ale and now they think they can play flutes. Next thing you know they'll think they can fly." he mumbled to himself as he began to rummage through his possessions. He opened a large wooden, a loud creaking noise coming from its hinges, and started to sort through the mass of dusty tomes until he pulled out a good sized leather-bound book. Upon the cover in Dunmeri it read, On the Art of Arcane Arboriculture and its Applications. As the aged wizard sat down at a nearby table to read his book the door to the inn opened once again. Two of the burly Nord's he had hired struggled into the inn with a sizable trunk. It was made of thick dark wood and tempered adamantium and bore a lock with no keyhole.

Varyn's eyes widened as he noticed it, "Quick! Bring that here!"

The old Dunmer closed his tome as the Nords set the chest down beside him. Varyn quickly hopped out of his seat and sat on the dark wooden container, a territorial look upon his face. The largest of the two Nord scratched his head as he looked down at the Dunmer, a half confused half nervous expression upon his rough bearded face. He looked over to his smaller companion, who just so happened to have a long bruise on his arm, and nudged him with his elbow. He stepped forward after giving his friend a sideways glance.

"Ah..um..yes...uh..."

"Just spit it out already you dimwitted fool," Varyn still sat on his trunk, not budging an inch.

"Y-yes sir. You uh, promised us two-hundred Septims for moving your things," despite the Nord's size he appeared as though he would run off screaming if a kitten jumped at him.

Varyn frowned, "A yes. Third chest down from the end, on top of the big brown one that smells of guar piss. Corky peed on the damn thing before I left," Varyn stared off into space for a moment, his face turning quite sad, "Had to leave the poor guy at the tower. He wouldn't fit in a trunk," he sighed, " I guess I'll have to send Alfred to go get him sooner or later. Otherwise those damned lizards will find him. I tried to teach him how to kill the bastards once. Though all he wanted to do was lick them, so I made his saliva flammable. He didn't like that much though, so I had to turn it back. Messed up though and his tongue was green for a month, " the old mer chuckled to himself and then continued on in Dunmeri about how he had bought Corky off of some farmer in the Ascadian Isles. After about five minutes he had finally talked himself to sleep. The two Nords looked at him for a moment; the old mer had his head against the table and was straddling the big dark chest, a thin line of saliva dripping from the corner of his mouth. The two movers then backed away slowly and grabbed the small chest with their payment.

[IsAiah AkA figgy]

Spoiler

Name: Garrett Age: 18 Race: Breton/Imperial Gender: Male
Height: 5'11ft
Birthsign: The Lady
Appearance: In plain clothes http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n515/Stoic_Guardian/2012-04-11_00005.jpg , http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n515/Stoic_Guardian/2012-04-11_00004.jpg In Guard Armor http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n515/Stoic_Guardian/2012-04-11_00014.jpg

Class (what would you describe your character as?): Journeyman Swordsman

Skills and known spells (if any): Minor Healer, very basic smithing and alchemy, has some knowledge of using a sword and a shield, as well as light-armor. Although his inexperience greatly limits his talents. Has some knowlegde of fighting with and without a weapon, due to his martial arts training when he was younger. Clothing / armor:Weapons: Reglar clothing for the moment (See picture above), though with time things may improve.

Miscellaneous items: Amulet of the Nine, http://static.skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/images/6539-1-1326958635.jpg
Personality: Introverted,Scholarly, Nine Divines Devotee

Major flaw: Inexperianced, Though he understands the basics of many skills, such as Combat, Smithing, Alchemy and Restoration Magic, he can be considered no more than a beginner in all of them, though His swordsmanship is better than his other skills.

Background: It is unkown exactly where Garrett was born. The Great war caused a flood of Refugees who his parents most likely included who migrated all around Northern Regions of Cyrodil, South Western Skyrim and Eastern Hammerfell. His parents were most likely killed by the Bandits who would often raid the Groups of Refugees,Or Possibly even the Forsworn, he grew up almost as a stray being fed by the other refugees but not exactly adopted in a permanent sense, as the refugee group parted as people found more permanent enclosings, Someone dropped the young kid off in Markarth where he was soon Taken in by an Elderly Priest of Talos. He grew up in the City doing random tasks for Gold, and became known as a little errand boy in the City,

The priest never asked for any money from the child but he would often place much of it in the Donation bin and also Bought thing to offer too Talos. The Boy learned spirtual instruction frome the priest and he encouraged others in the town to do the same, He took notes from the Court Wizard Calcelmo, Learned a Bit of smithing from Ghorza gra-Bagol,a bit of Alchemy from Bothela.

He learned about Arkay from Verulus in the Hall of the dead and Studied in the Temple of Dibella, As an adolescant he was attracted to many of the Women in the city(namely Hroki) but never got up the nerve to pursue any type of romantic relationship.

He grew greatly interested in the martial arts and learned a bit from Yngvar the Singer, Argis the Bulwark and Vorstag. In recent Years with the Tensions rising in Skyrim, The Old priest was Arrested by the Aldmeri Dominion for Refusing to stop his "Heresy" of Preaching on Talo's Divinity. When Garrett found out about this he Ran to the Jarl Demanding action, the Jarl said that his hand were tied, Enraged Garrett confronted the Thalmor, Drew his Sword and Demanded the priest released the Thalmor struck the sword out of his hand as electrocuted him to the Floor, the Markarth guards then arrested him, On his way to Cidhna Mine He broke free of the guards and ran out of the city. He had to get as far away as possible.

Night,Whiterun Garrett arrived at the City of Whiterun, Clothing in Tatters, Body Covered in cuts From a Run in with a Khajiit.

While fleeing from Markarth he had been attacked by a Khajiit, He Bit and clawed at Garrett until he mannaged to throw the attacker off of him, knowing he couldn't outrun the Khajiit, he grabbed a large rock and warned him off, unphased the creature charged at him again almost catching his juggular. During this dance of death Garrett managed to trip up the Khajiit and then repeadiatly bashed his skull in with the rock, after catching his breath and contemplating his Murder of a Khajiit he proceeded to looted the beast mans possesions, finding no Gold but instead 3 vials of Skooma, 2 small containers of Moonsuger and a bottle of Sleeping Tree Sap, obviously this Khajiit had been drugged up on this stuff.

Garrett had taken the satcheled and had avoided any more trouble on his way to Whiterun. He tried to deal with the stinging pain of his wounds the best he could, he tried what he could with restorative magic but was only able to partially close the wounds but this did nothing to dull the pain.

When he did arrive at Whiterun the Guards refused to allow him into the city, disheartened Garrett trudged back out while doing so he decided to sell his new "wares" to the Khajiit camped outside the City.

Garrett approached them, illuminated by the light of the campfire.
"I hear you Khajiit love this Skooma and Moonsuger stuff, I happned to...acquire some in my travels"
Garrett offered to the Greying Khajiit merchant.
"Well I hope you didn't receive those wounds by going through such trouble to..."acquire" it, as we are already well stocked on Skooma and Moonsuger, any price i'd be willing to pay for it I'm sure would only insult you." The greying Khajiitt replied

*sigh* "Well what about this?" Garrett retreaved the bottle from his satchel. The merchanet gave it a small taste. "Ahh, Sleeping Tree Sap, now this I do not currently have in my possesion, that should be remidied. I'd be willing to pay you 100 septims for this."

Slightly suprised but glad to make a deal Garrett glady accepted the offer, slightly chuckling "Thank you very much. Nice to doing business with you." With that he Nodded and went to hire the Carriage that was parked next to the Stable.

"Whoa you dont look so good friend." The driver pointed out.

"I'm aware of that... how far from her can you take me?" I inquired.

"Odd location...Markarth I suppo..."
I cut him off "No, in the other direction."
"Well that'd be Riften."
"How much with that cost me?"
"20 Septims"
"Deal."
"Aliright just hop on back there."

I hoisted myself onto the back of the wagon and laid down.

"I'm gonna take a Nap, Wake me when we get there"

[Red Sauce]

Jacqueline, Valton Farm, Evening.

"Yeah, but now tha lizard's probably gonna mind control ya or somethin'. Ya can have ma share of tha fish since tha damage's already been done."

Jacqueline had just finished milking all the cows, disposing of the bad milk in the process, and was now filling up the milk tins and putting the lids on them. She carried them outside and put them up against the wall of the barn. The nights in Skyrim were cold so the milk could stand there overnight without going bad. She brought out some more hay for the cows and made sure they had water before leaving them alone for the night.

She fetched one of her knifes and the new axe handle and brought them inside the house. The smell of the cooked fish made her treacherous stomach rumble. I'd be darned if I eat that poisoned bile, she thought. Still, she couldn't help but to pop two potatoes in her mouth to sate her hunger. She washed them down with a cup of water and sat down by the fireplace. She picked up the broken axe and studied it for a moment before dropping it into the fire. She would let the axe head lie there overnight so that most of the wooden handle would burn off. She got to work on the new handle while the flames gently chased away the chill in her bones.

[My blood]

Itan-Ru, Chapel of Mara, Evening


Itan-Ru nodded at his quandary. It was one many young men that had come to the Riften Chapel shared. Theseus seemed unusually distressed about it, or perhaps it was something else. He thought back to the times he had heard Maramal or his wife Dinya give advice to these young men and told their advice to the Redguard in front of him. He could almost hear Dinya's voice echo in the room as he said,

"First things first, the one thing women find attractive above all else... is confidence. It sounds cliche I know, but there's a reason it's cliche: because it's true. You have to smile, be calm, make eye contact. But make sure you don't stare, especially not at their bodies. Stand up straight er.... when you're healed anyway." he paused thinking for a second, recalling Maramal's jovial tones as he provided an answer,

"Another thing, be honest. never try to lie, especially about who you are or what you're like. She's bound to find out and then you'll be in trouble. Don't change yourself to try to get them to accept you. She will want to know YOU, not a made-up you. And help her, if she needs something, offer to help her. If she needs someone to talk to, you definitely stay and listen." He decided to add one last thing to his short list,

"And one more thing.... believe it or not, men and women aren't that different, even if it seems like it. So when you think you're ready, preferably when you don't still have a hole in you, go and ask her to get a few drinks with you... er.... just don't actually get drunk. that's NOT a good idea." He trailed off, trying to remember any more helpful hints that he may have overheard from his tutors over the years. not finding any that were relevant to the current situation, he was satisfied. "Any other questions? ...Wait, I won't have to explain THAT to you do I?" he joked.

[lucile davignon]

Theseus, Chapel of Mara, Evening

Theseus slowly nodded as the priest told him all he knew about love. By Mara it's more complicated than I thought it would be.

Confidence eh? Well I'm not confident, but If I pretend to be confident than wouldn't I be being dishonest? Drinks? the Redguard tended to stay away from harder alcohols for some reason. I guess getting
drunk wont be a problem than.

But...What am I supposed to say...?

"Any other questions? ...Wait, I won't have to explain THAT to you do I?" Ru joked.

Theseus's eyes widened, "Of Course not."

"But," he continued, "What should I say? i always tend to freeze up and say something stupid."

[Maria Garcia]

Alguidar, Valton's Farm, Evening

Jacqueline refused to eat the fish. Alguidar couldn't blame her, he was having second thoughts himself. "Mind control? No! Can't be!" He licked a few drops that were left of his cow healing potion, just in case.

Alguidar walked away as Jacqueline busied herself trying to get as many things done as possible before ending the day. He walked out of the barn and went through the crop fields. He was running the numbers in his head on whether he should water the plants. He had it down to a science back at Windhelm, but here, he knew he had to adjust. The air felt moist and fresh, rain was bound to fall soon. Also, he couldn't ignore the new landscape. His old farm stood on open terrain, wind hit the plants constantly, making them lose their moisture through their leaves. This farm was hidden in the forest though, which helped protect the plants against the rigorous winds of Skyrim. He decided not to water them. Instead, he just took an apple from a tree and ate it as he walked back inside. These red juicy apples were clearly a highlight of his new farm.

He walked inside to an empty house. It's been a long day, started with wrestling an Argonian and then plenty of walking around. He intended to distract himself with a book. He picked one up, one with poems about giants, and he lied in his bed. He held the book on top of his chest. His eyes jumping from word to word. Their meaning, slowly fading away as his mind wandered off. "How many Nords have you killed, Roymund?" The resentment for the Empire ran deep in his blood. He hated all men with the uniform. He couldn't hate Roymund though. Something wasn't right.

He kept reading, even though his attention was captured by his own thoughts, but even them, started slowly vanishing as his eyelids became heavier and heavier...

[Samantha Jane Adams]

Garrett, Riften, Evening

"Heh!, wake up!"
The carriage driver yelled at me. "We're here... ah jeez you bled all over the place"
"Sorry about that." I answered back.
"Ah, don't worry about it, but you should really see about getting those wounds healed."
"I look into into it, thanks for the ride."

^{I walked toward the city gate, and was stopped by one of the guards.
"Halt!. Heh, you don't look so good what'd ya have a ru in with a Bear or somethin?"
"Or Somethin." I answered
"Well Your not entering the City until you've paid the vistors tax."
"Vistors tax my ass!" was my reply to his charge.
"Look you either pay me or your not getting in ."
Knowing I had little choice I rummaged through my satchel and foolishly dropped the skooma out of it.
"Whats this...what you think you'd do a bit of smuggling eh? I think we'll confiscate this and any other "evidence" on your person. Hey throw this guy in the jail until were sort this stuff out"
Out of the frying pain and into the fire...
They bound my hands and walked me through the streets, being as in bad shape as I was in the populace must of though I put up quite the fight.}
As I was brought into the jail I heard one of the Guards commenting "Damn, what'd you guys do to this guy."

^{"He was already like this when we arrested him." the other answered.
Then I was put into a cell and had my binds untied.
Well at least i was arrested for smuggling and not assault.}

[Emily Rose]

Itan-Ru, Chapel, evening

Itan-Ru laughed as he said, "But that's okay! it's okay to say something stupid, within reason. You don't have to be perfect to get a woman to fall in love! You need to try and... what was that human saying, 'Roll with the punches'? If you say something stupid and she laughs, then laugh with her! Let it become a shared joke instead of a personal blunder. As for freezing up..." he paused to think for a moment, before his eyes brightened with a thought, "It's normal to become stressed in that situation, you just need to try and relax. A drink may actually help in that situation, it tends to loosen people up a bit. once you've gotten her talking for a bit, your stress will be gone soon enough."

He leaned back in his chair, oddly enjoying the conversation, " As for talking with her, you can try opening with a compliment. A small one, don't flatter her too much. 'Your hair looks nice', 'Your eyes are pretty' along those lines. Pick a facial feature and make a nice comment. Do NOT mention anything below the neck. That is a terrible idea." He remembered seeing a young man in Riften try this tactic. He had gone home that night with a black eye and clothes drenched in river water.

"I think your main problem is going to be relaxing. once you can relax around her, then you'll be fine."

[Jordan Fletcher]

***Night reached Valton***


It took a few merry folks by surprise, but night fell over Valton. That night, the howls of feral wolves could be heard around Valton. Only a handful of citizens slept well that night, thanks to their knocked-out state. It was impossible to tell from which direction the terrible howls came from and it was almost as if the wolves were mocking Valton, like they knew there was two wounded hunters in there who couldn't bother them even if they wanted...

[Miranda Taylor]

Danus Maximus. Night.

It may have been night already but I can not sleep. I was worried that since I didn't spill blood this demon haunting me in my dreams would punish me. And I in general, I did not wanted to go through the nightmare again. I have to find someone to end it. But what if people think I am a madman? The only person I could trust with this is Nellis, but he doesn't have the same problem I have nor does he even know how to solve it. Maybe he knows someone who can. By tomorrow, I will have to find him. Now I need to try and avoid sleep.

I came to Gudslott hall. The jarl must be in his bed chambers. I wonder if he did anything to that stormcloak supporter I told him about.
I came to my room, Told the bodyguards they can now sleep, and just sat on my bed. It feels like hours went by but I couldn't tell if it was merely minutes. All of a sudden; I was somewhere else. It was not a prison cell, it was in my house before the great war happened. When I was merely a child. Except it was destroyed; by thalmor soldiers no doubt. In the center of the main room was a corpse. It was the corpse of my mother. Right there I cried for what felt like an eternity.

Then mother's corpse rose up from the ground, levitating, and spoke to me, with that same demonic voice from the other nightmares.

"Danus, why must you do this? Why must you dissapoint me like this? Is it your stubbornness?" He asked me

"Why do you want me to spill blood?" I replied.

"Because I want it that way. You failed me Danus, You are now punished."

Pain was everywhere. O felt Like I was hit by a mace repeatedly. And memories that I tried to forget since the great war came to me in flashes of seconds. This process kept going on for what felt like hours ended. I woke up in my quarters in the keep. One of by men, Aventius, must of woke me up.

"What happened?"

See what happens when I try and make a long post? I'll fix it when I get a chance

[Anthony Santillan]

Valton, Night


From inside Gudslott Hall, agitated voices, shouting, and some sort of flapping commotion.

"Well I[muffle muffle] think it should be broug[muffle-squawk?]to your[muffle]"

Moments pass. More noises of flapping, foots stamping about, and loud voices indiscernible. The two guards keep vigil outside the fort, either side of its doors, exchanged sheepish, bemused looks at one another, through their helmets.

"-my [censored] with Nordic convention!" exclaimed a voice not at all dissimilar to that of the Jarl of Valton. A quieter, muffled voice replied something almost entirely obscured by squawks, and footsteps approached the door. With swift determination a tall, dark figure opened the door and stormed down the staircase, briskly shutting the door behind him. The figure stood between the two guards, keenly aware he was being watched from both sides, and most clearly not in the best mood about it.

The figure was a tall, extravagantly dressed Dunmer. He wore a silk raiment of gold mixed with black, complete with sleek, matching gloves and the most painstakingly polished boots of black netch leather outside of Mournhold. All across this fine attire were strewn feathers, and his tunic and cape had been tangled in a mess, as if he had been battling with the wind. The Dark Elf had proud, noble features yet an extremely sour visage, looking like a mer svcking on a bunch of Bittergreen Petals. By the look of him, this Dunmer was of moderate age. He wore a neatly trimmed goatee and short, modestly chopped dark hair, in the Nibenian style. His pure red eyes glowed with an almost unnatural fierceness, making this one appear somewhat startling, even for a Dark Elf. He did not look happy, as if he could sense the smirks from beneath the guards' visors.

"Well then!" growled the Dunmer, patting himself down. "It would appear the Jarl of Valton was not quite as approachable as I had been led to believe!" he spoke in a curious mix of Cyrodiilic and Dunmer, like an Imperial City aristocrat who had swallowed a mouthful of bees. He turned to the guard to his left, walking right up so he stood eye to eye with the Nord, and raised a grey finger.
"You know. You should think carefully about the security of working for a man who lets wild birds fly about in his court! Yes, errerrum, yes. Indeed. Perhaps in the near future there will be more agreeable employment opportunities for one such as yourself!" he concluded, voice rising up and down, the Dunmer almost shaking in anger as he babbled on, barely coherent. The Dunmer left his hand wavering there for a moment, red eyes aflame, and then withdrew it, coughing politely and patting more feathers off his raiment, exchanging a dignified look at the guard behind him.

"Yes. Ahem. Wealth beyond measure." he intoned, and began his brisk escape from the scene, head held high, straight back, arms swinging either side of him in that inimitable Dunmeri swagger. It was only once the rather intimidating character had made it out of earshot that the two guards looked to each-other, and broke out into laughter. It was the first they had seen of Llaago Amb-Hlaalu, but would not be the last.

[Matt Fletcher]

Roymund Inventius, Valton Farm. Night

As the evening grew to a close, Roymund heard fewer and fewer sounds of movement from inside the farmhouse. Pushing himself up from the farmhouse wall, he got to his feet. Hobbling along, he looked inside the farmhouse, still feeling a mixture of emotions from his encounter with Alguidar earlier that night. The farmer was in bed, an open book sprawled across his chest, while the Breton girl was slumped asleep on a chair by the fire, an assortment of tools surrounding her.

With a creak of the door, the Hunter stepped over the houses threshold, Snatching an apple off the table as he passed, and made for his bed. Sitting atop his bedroll, he brought out his skinning knife from his satchel. He was unsure of the Nords state of mind, but it was clear he wasn't fond of the idea of Roymund once being of the legion. He stuffed the knife under his pillowcase, and began his assault upon the apple.

As several minutes passed, he kicked off his boots and wrapped himself amongst his bedding. The idea of sleep seemed promising. He began to drift off, but was suddenly re-awakened by the howling of wolves. He'd been used to these noises during his time spent amongst the wilds, but these sounded close. As if the beasts paraded around the holds streets, though he knew this to be a folly idea.

The noise cried out once more, this time sounding ever closer. He crept up from his bedroll, grasped his bow and an arrow from beside his belongings, then headed to the window. "I bloody hate wolves" he grumbled, checking through the curtains and out into the surrounding woodlands. He could see nothing, nor any signs of movement along the tree line. His eyes scanned the area carefully, but only darkness looked back.

[Andrew Tarango]

Valton, Night, Annika's room above the shop
Annika sat up in her bed, listening to the howling. Her brown hair was up in a messy pony tail, to keep it out of her face. She leaned forward a little bit to see the rain begin drizzling down. She stood up and walked over to a drawer, which held another banket. She walked back over to her bed and lay down, throwing the blanket over the 5 layers of covers she already had. It was a little cold. She turned on her side and closed her eyes, pulling the covered tighter around her.
(sorry it's so short.)

[Chloe Lou]

Theseus, Chapel of Mara, Night

Theseus gave a weak smile, followed by a yawn and a grumble from his stomach. He noticed his shoulder pack was laying on the floor next to the bench he had been sitting on before.

"Thanks for all the advice, I really appreciate it." Theseus said, "But I need to get a bite to eat and then sleep."

The Redguard opened the bag only to find its contents empty. Gone. Every last Septim. The thieves of Riften had even stolen his sweetroll.

"Damn Thieves!" Theseus cursed. "I hate to ask any more from you, but If there is any food you could spare...?"

[Bee Baby]

Itan-Ru, Valton Chapel, Night

Itan-Ru laughed as he grabbed his pack off the nearby bench, rooting out an apple from what little remained in the bag and tossing it to Theseus. "It's no trouble, friend. Just make sure to try and get some rest. I think I'm going to go get some sleep myself. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." He walked upstairs into his room, opening the chest by his bed as he did so. taking the small wooden box out, he opened it and removed one of the many bottles, putting the box back inside the chest afterwards. He uncorked the bottle and took a small sip of the liquid inside, feeling it's effects near instantly as he felt incredibly tired. He set the bottle down on the nightstand, took off his robe and settled into the bed, ready to end the day.

OOC: small post is small. will write intro post for Sae-Kas later

[Claire Lynham]

Gorbad Yak-Bogadbu, his forge, night-time

Just when Gorbad thought he'd fallen asleep, he woke up to the bone-chilling howls of wolves. He muttered a curse and covered his ears, but nothing could stop the howling. He decided it was best to wait for the howls to stop before attempting sleep in any serious way, so he put in a fresh piece of wood in the fire-place. "Need to get someone to bring me some more wood, I'm almost out." He thought as he hauled himself to his dining table. All the time, the wolves made loud noises. He shrugged at the inconveniance and poured a mug of watered-wine to himself. With slow steps he then made his way back to the fire-place at sat there, covered in a blanket with a mug of wine in his hand, staring at the small flames in the middle of the night while the wolves howled.
"Someone's got to do something about those beasts." He muttered and drank some of the wine. He didn't know how long he sat there, but by the time he'd finished the wine he was feeling very tired. The wolves were still howling, but Gorbbad was simply too tired to care. With a loud yawn he climbed back into his bed and fell asleep once more, now that the wolves had finally stopped howling.

[Peter P Canning]

Sae-Kas, Unspecified location - Markarth, Night

Sae-Kas was in a surprisingly good mood. He was in the small room he called his "Office", leaning back in his chair and twirling a dagger in his right hand as he ran numbers through his head, silently counting his profits while not leaving records that could be found by someone who decided to go snooping around. He was in such a good mood, in fact, that when the large Nord entered his room with a quiet knock, looking a bit nervous, he didn't even berate him for ignoring his specific instructions to leave him alone for exactly thirty minutes, when it had only been... he paused almost imperceptibly in his twirling of the dagger... twenty-eight minutes. This should be good...

So, still leaning back and playing with the dagger, he said, "Yes, Ros? I take it you have news for me." The man gulped audibly. It was comical really, that this Nord could easily crush the lizard in front of him like a toothpick, and yet he was the one nervously wringing his hands like a worried housewife. The man known as Rostungur, or Ros, cleared his throat before speaking, "Yes, Red." (a silly, if necessary moniker. Couldn't have his underlings all running around knowing his name so the guards could fish it out of them) "I have information to report about the new hold, Valton. I figured you'd want to hear it, and I apologize if I came in too early." The Nord was carefully considering his words. Sae-Kas enjoyed having this effect on people.

"It's no trouble. Please, continue." Rostungur's nervousness seemed to lessen slightly, seeing that the argonian seemed to be in a better mood than usual. Emboldened by this, he continued a little more confidently.

"I took it upon myself to take a look at the place from a distance. It seems that the town has no gate or walls of any kind. The only fortification is the Jarl's keep." Sae-Kas nodded, taking in the information. A new hold, ripe with opportunity... That's a pie I need to get my claws into...he thought to himself briefly before looking back at Rostungur. "And what about my other agents? what did they find out about the town? Did they get in?"

Rostungur looked nervous again as he said, "Well... I'm not sure." The twirling of the dagger stopped as Sae-Kas waited for him to finish his statement. "I thought they were taking too long so I tried to get in. I told the guard outside I was planning to open a store and he didn't believe me so I couldn't get in," he finished somewhat lamely. The dagger in Sae-Kas' hand hadn't resumed it's circular motions, and an edge crept into the Argonian's voice as he said,

"So... let me get this straight. I gave you one simple assignment. I told you to look at the town, from a distance. and instead of following my orders and waiting to see if the other Agents were even still alive, you decided to take some initiative for the first time in your life and nearly screw up the entire job. Nice work, Ros, I'm very proud of you." his voice was dripping with sarcasm in this last sentence, and he even sarcastically clapped his hands a few times, driving the point home. "Actually, I have the reports from the scouting team right here, let's take a look, shall we?" he read through the report, making sure to read the accusations the team had put on Rostungur, "Let's see... abandonment of duty, insubordination, ignoring a direct order... it doesn't look good friend. It really does-" he stopped as he read a few lines ahead into the report.

Final day: Passed an argonian mage on the way to Riften early this morning, claimed he was a priest of Mara upon inquiry, most likely moving into Valton. seemed nervous, recommend further investigation. He read the short description written further down of the mage in question and he thought, No.... he wouldn't go out on his own... it couldn't be him. But what if it is? He's not safe in that hold... there's not even a wall! Well I guess I'll hit two birds with one stone. I'll check if he's really who I think he is, and while I'm at it try to set up a foothold in Valton. Rostungur had his head down, and was being silent. Sae-Kas looked back at him and said, "you know what? I'm in a good mood, so I'll let you off the hook on this one. Next time, wait for the team and just do what I tell you. No more second chances." The nord hurried out of the room, in case the lizard changed his mind and made straight for the local tavern.

Meanwhile, sae-Kas was changing into his leather armor,as well as putting on his special glove, just in case. his daggers strapped to his belt, he walked out, passing his Khajiit lieutenant on the way. "Sira! I'm taking care of the Valton business. You run things here while I'm gone. Oh, and we're giving Ros a second chance, just so you know. I'm feeling generous." The Khajiit nodded and continued about her business, whatever it was that she was doing. She knew not to try stealing anything from his room, so he wasn't worried.

He made his way to the stables outside of Markarth, waking the carriage driver by clinking a small bag of gold in his face and saying, "I'm headed to that new hold, Valton. There's plenty of extra in it for you if you get me there before this time tomorrow." The carriage driver was shocked, "There's no way! it's to far of a ride to make it by then!"

Sae-Kas sighed and said, then I guess I'll just give all this gold to someone else... maybe I'll make some poor beggar's week!" he responded with a smirk. The carriage driver then motioned for him to get in the back, and mumbled, "Challenge accepted," before snapping the horse's reigns and starting off.

[Hazel Sian ogden]

Jormaw, Hela's Folly to Jormaw's Shack, Night.

The two had conversed long into the night. Passing snide comments between them and rather poor tasting alcohol.
Eventually Leandra had fallen into a deep sleep that even a sea leviathan wouldn't dare to awake, even if it so wished.

Jormaw had took pity upon this woman's habitually cramping into a sleepable position on this lone chair in the corner.
So with a wrench to sling the mercenary upon his shoulder, as well as gather his skull and spear, he was out of the door.

A light shower of rain had fallen upon Valton hold and distant howls from wolves claimed the dark, starry night with ease.
Foxes maddening screeches had joined in this choir of bitterment by the time the argonian reached the shack's door.

The shuddering folly of their blissful hatred was silenced when a lock came twisted and a door's crack was breached.
Jormaw lay the daedra hunter upon his bed and covered her with a sheet. Spare wood was thrown upon the fire to heat the place.

He himself had laden the clannfear skull next to the slaughterfish's skull upon his wall, before falling asleep peacefully on a reclining chair.
Whatever was to come of the night's howling should be dealt with tommorow. All he could hope was that the wolves didn't tamper with his net.

[Marilú]

Lokir and Alessandra

From the window Lokir could see lights go out in each house, as people began climbing into bed for the night. Sleep was often a luxury someone on a job could not have. He remembered part of his job in Solitude had him sitting in a gutter in the same position for fourteen hours as he pretended to be an unconscious drunkard so he could watch the entrance to a possible targets house.

This wasn't as stressful perhaps, but he knew he would be up late, as would his partner. She was setting up the jewelry shop still, arranging the most expensive jewels in locked display cases near the front to catch the eye of customers. Laying out in the open were all the simple pieces, much of it very cheap knock offs that used far below the standard amounts of silver or gold, and most of the gemstones were not authentic at all. Amazing what illusions could do to things.

Lokir was setting up more important measures. The briefing suggested that there would be Imperial agents here as well, which would make sense. They had guessed that the Imperials had actually beaten them here, though this was unconfirmed but Lokir wasn't going to take any chances. New cities would also attract attention from thieves and gangs as the city guard would still be disorganized in the beginning. The Stormcloak spies couldn't have thieves breaking into their establishment and accidentally blowing their cover by stealing documents.

So despite the howling of the wolves, they spent the better part of the night hiding their documents cleverly, and Lokir put his mastery of traps to use, making sure each window and the door was covered twice over. Alessandra added her magickal touches to them as well, and when they finally deemed that if anyone could survive an entry into the building, they'd certainly be in no condition to fight the two alerted agents. With that knowledge, they finally dimmed the candles, and went to get some much needed rest.

[Micah Judaeah]

Theseus, Chapel of Mara, Night

The Redguard thanked Itan Ru, quickly devoured the apple and made his way up the stairs. The room the Argonian had prepared for him was small and a bit dusty, but It was warm and it had a bed and that was all
that mattered to Theseus. After all just today he had stared death in the eye and gotten away.

Theseus had a habit of reviewing all of the major events of a day in his head. He sorted through his memories inspecting them as a jeweler inspects his latest find. Tonight however, his memories seemed befuddled.
They seemed to be tampered with. He barely remembered the events of his near death experience. Eternal life is all in vein. Theseus frowned. Where had that thought come from?

The young Redguard was no poet but those words seemed to emanate power and authority, in the likes of which he didn't fully understand.

And then another memory, or image rather. An image of beauty the likes of which he had never seen.

"Jacqueline", Theseus sighed in a dreamy whisper.

Love(or infatuation depending on how you look at it) was a new feeling Theseus had never felt before. And while he had thought of women as all men have in a less than elegant manner, this feeling was different.
It seemed to rock his very essence.

He decided that the next day he would talk to the young Breton. Maybe even get up the nerve to ask her if she wanted to have a drink or two.

On that note Theseus whispered a short prayer to Mara and passed into a deep sleep.

[Sherry Speakman]

Sarynetta Vycomte, Road to Valton -> Gudslott Hall, Morning

?Atchoo!? Sarynetta let out a big sneeze. “Oh my, the cold must be getting to me. How long until we are in Valton?”

“Should be any minute now” one of the caravan guards spoke. They had looked at the map in the morning after breaking up camp and Valton should not be more than an hour away.

Sarynetta let go of the reins and rubbed her gloved hands together in an attempt at warming them. The guard riding next to her didn’t seem to mind the cold as much as she did. “If I may suggest something, Miss Vycomte” he spoke. “You ride ahead and speak to the Jarl. Find out where we will put your things when we arrive. Take Farundal with you.”

“Good idea, Codus. I’ll do that” she smiled. She was really looking forward to getting inside a nice and warm house. She was getting really sore from all this riding day in and day out. Codus called out for Farundal and the Bosmer rode his horse up front. Sarynetta and the elf let their horses gallop at their own speed down the road. After ten minutes Valton came into sight. They slowed their horses down and rode slowly down the street towards what they assumed were the Jarl’s home.

They dismounted their horses and Farundal took the reins, leading the horses over to a patch of grass and a rock where he sat down to wait for Sarynetta to finish her business with the Jarl.

She walked over to the guards watching the entrance. “Hello there” she smiled. “Is the Jarl available for an audience? Or must I make an appointment beforehand?”

-------------------------------------------------------

Jacqueline, Valton Farm, Morning

Jacqueline woke with a slight jolt. She had fallen asleep still sitting with the now finished axe handle in her lap. The knife she had used had fallen out of her grip and landed on the bedroll next to the fireplace.

She got up quietly and placed the knife on the table so that the others wouldn't accidentaly step on it. The axe head lay in a pile of ashes, ready to be assembled and become whole again. After fishing it out of the fireplace she snuck out, noticing Roymund (or Roymund's corpse) wrapped up in his bedroll. He didn't look like a pile of stones though, so he was probably alive. She let him be for the moment.

The sun had not risen yet, and it was so cold that Jacqueline could see her own breath forming clouds in the air. She moved quickly to get her blood going to battle the cold. She started off by milking the cows. One of them were now giving good milk so Jacqueline changed its ribbon with a smile. In the end she had filled three tins, giving them a total of five tins of milk to sell. When the cows were taken care of she sent them out to graze. After milking Apricot, she and Henry were let out to the cows. In the hicken nests there were four big eggs. Jacqueline picked them up gently and carried them inside the farm house, placing them in the same wooden bowl that she had used the day before. She did her best to stay quiet, not wanting to wake the others so early in the morning.

She closed the door quietly behind her and walked out to the barns, looking around for some planks to make the new gate with. She found a few leaned up against a wall and carried them to the front of the farm where the broken gate was lying on the ground. Making a new gate would be a cakewalk, but Jacqueline decided she would do it after breakfast so that she wouldn't make too much noise so early in the morning.

She fetched her tools and continued her work on the wooden mannequin. She had just finished one foot when the sunlight hit her face.

[Lavender Brown]

Gorbad Yak-Bogadbu, his forge, morning

He wasn't sure if he'd slept at all last night, or just rolled around in his bed for seven hours. But he knew he couldn't sleep now, even if he wanted to. He figured it was very early morning, probably around 5 AM. It took a while for him to get up from bed, eat the last of the bread he had left and drink the last of the wine he had. He really needed to buy some more food here, as well as firewood for his place. He wasn't going to go chopping woods in the middle of a forest filled with wolves. Some of the younger fella's would surely help him out, especially when gold was to be made.

As he finished the rather dull meal, it was getting brighter outside, however, he couldn't see the sun yet. Perhaps he could get Nellis to go to the mine's very bottom today and fetch some orchalium and moonstone for him. Yes, that'd be a good way to get people's attention. He thought if Jack and Alguidar would manage to sell the idea of the armor to others in Valton as he walked out into the cold morning outside. It wasn't as cold as the night when every watery-surface has frozen. Instead, it was a more natural cold. No evil magic involved. It didn't take long before the forge had a decent flame, warming the chilly morning-air around him. He figured he could use the smelter to clean the remaining iron and corundum he had left, into steel obviously.

A new citizen, or traveler, arrived to Valton not long after he'd begun refining the ore. An imperial woman it seemed, accompanied by a bosmer. She didn't have that mocking court attitude that was so common amongst the imperial women. Gorbad couldn't quite place her, so he shrugged to himself as they rode by, heading towards the keep.


**************


A tired guard of Valton, outside the keep, morning.

The night couldn't have been worse. He'd be happy to have a morning shift, and let the others be outside in the cold of the night... But this morning was just as chilly as the night. And not to mention that he hadn't slept at all last night, thanks to the bloody wolves howling all night long. He did his best to stay awake, but most of the time he was leaning towards the wall behind him with closed eyes.

His short pause was interrupted by steps. An imperial woman and a sneaky bosmer walked up to the keep, seeking an audience with the jarl. "At this hour?" the guard thought. He was unsure if the Jarl was even up yet. If he was, the guard wondered what mood he'd be in. As grumpy as the guard was? More? Less? Either way, if the woman wanted an audience so be it. That'd be her funeral.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just check if he's awake..." He muttered and stepped inside Gudslott hall. There the Jarl was, sitting on his throne, with that all too familiar neutral face, sunk in deep thought. "Well, he's awake, that's for sure." The guard thought. He was outside of the keep in no time and said to the woman. "The Jarl's awake alright. But only one of you may see him. Which of you will it be?" Perhaps an unnecessary security measure.

[Chloe Lou]

Sarya Vycomte, outside Gudslott Hall, Morning.

"Farundal will stay out here with the horses" she replied. "I carry no weapons. May I enter the hall?" She held her arms out with smile as to demonstrate her lack of weaponry.

[keri seymour]

A tired guard of Valton, outside the keep, morning.

Since the imperial woman left that bosmer fella outside, the guard figured she wasn't going to cause problems. "But of course, go on ahead." He said. He wasn't sure why the woman was in Valton, but to cause trouble was definitely not it.