EliteCommander

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

See, here's the trick when it comes to enjoying things. Hype yourself for nothing. When you hear about things, don't look beyond release date and basic details. When you can judge something on its own merits and not against preconceived notions, you'll get more out of everything.

If Half-Life 3 is ever released, unless it is literally the best game to ever exist, people will hate it. Even then, it would get some complaints.

Blood Act I~ Ghosts of the Past

Tired, busy, still more papers to write. That kind of thing. Regardless, I spoke with Frettzo about collabing something a few days ago, I'd like to get back to that.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"It is a concern, yes, but most thugs you will find on the street are not seasoned warriors. Just make sure to travel together, and never part from your weapon. As for wildlife, just avoid going into the river that flows through town. The guard said that crocodiles sometimes wait in ambush there." Meesei said, pausing for a moment to look over the businesses and other buildings that lined the road. "As much as I would like to stay here for an extended time, we simply do not have much gold. Not to mention Kaleeth's...condition. I would advise that you two do whatever you need to in the city as quickly as you can. Whatever you would like to learn, whatever books you would like to buy, just try to do it in the next day or two. I will help if I can."

Kaleeth seemed to be quite confused on a topic that was, indeed, quite confusing. When it came history, there were so many stories, some contradictory, that it was hard to keep them all straight. "So Alessia was a Queen who made a deal with a god to create the Empire, Pelinal was a hero who killed the Ayleids' leader, and they had help from...a flying cow? It sounds confusing. What I don't understand though is that you said they just...created a church.They just decided they would put their beliefs together and worship a few of the gods? The Treeminder told us that Nirn was made from the bones of...ah, what is the Cyrodiilic name? Lorkhan, or was it Shor...or Shezarr? I can't remember. Anyway, he said that the world we live in is order...seated within the chaos of Padomay's void." She said, pausing for a moment to think back on Thorantilth's words. "He said that there were those who used their power to make Tamriel, the Aedra, and those who did not, the Daedra. He did mention the Eight the Imperials worship to us. He said they are all Aedra...but there were other Aedra too, like...Magnus, I think is the name. Why do they just choose those Eight to worship? What is different with them from the other Aedra?"

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Kaleeth was starting to wish she would have paid more attention to Thorantilth's history lessons growing up. There were parts she found interesting, but she had often been too impatient to dedicate herself to remembering the fine details. Still, she remembered parts of what he said. "Uh, well, I think so. I think Treeminder said they were strong, with powerful armies and magic, but...I think they had some problems in the swamps. Most outsiders do. I remember he said they took Argonians, Kothringi, Lilmothiit, and anyone they could find, but they didn't take all of us. Like you said though, the slaves killed them all. I never heard of this...Alessia though. Maybe the slaves weren't all connected? Black Marsh is close to Cyrodiil, but Thorantilth always said that, it many ways, the Marsh is very far apart from everything. Very...separate. Who was Alessia? You said she was a Queen; did she take over the Ayleids?" She asked, now finding some interest in tales from the past.

"Kind of. He has been sleeping on and off." Ahnasha answered Fendros. She held Rhazii close to her chest so he could feel her familiar heartbeat, then positioned his head in a way that he couldn't see the crowd around him. For a cub at such a young age, being unable to see something frightening was as good as it not being there. He stopped crying, but as he could still hear all the movement around him, he was still quite stressed. "I think it will be quite a long time before he is on any sort of schedule."

It was not long before Meesei returned from speaking to the guard. She did her best not to disturb the now-quiet Rhazii as she approached, though she supposed the noise from the crowd was disturbing him all the same. "The guard pointed out a few inns and taverns, but unfortunately, we won't be able to stay at the best of them. We do not have a great deal of gold right now. He said there is a cheap inn down that road nearby to your left, but it is not a...safe area. The quality of the inn does not bother me, just...be aware of any dangers."

Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

The disadvantages could very well outweigh the advantages. I would disagree for their situation, but in any case, the setup they have does make sense to maximize defense.

Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

I said that ships couldn't fit in, like merchant vessels you would use to transport across the sea. Rowboats would fit and could be used for transport. The reason for not building any sort of path to the outside is the precise reason it is giving our characters problems in the first place: it is more easily defensible. In order to get in, an enemy would have to either swim, or use a rowboat, and a rowboat would make it obvious that they were being attacked, not to mention that it would be an easy target for archers. It does also mean they wouldn't be able to get out as easily, but in the case of an attack, they would be wanting to defend anyway, as that is where all their valuables are.

Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

Sharee did not interrupt Sarel through his rant, but that did not mean she wasn't judging him. She saw him fight when they were taking the ship, and she knew he could do so intelligently, but he was really showing some signs of arrogance here, the dangerous kind too. Once he was done talking, she spoke up, still in a whisper, but with a firm enough tone that he and everyone else could easily tell she was serious.

"Oh, so I suppose your plan is to swim out there into the cove, sit in the water, and throw fireballs at them while they pelt you with arrows? Because if you haven't noticed, that's the only way you could get a decent angle on them. If you truly believe everything you just said, then you're a more arrogant fool than I thought. If you're fighting a strong, skilled opponent, then you give it everything you have. You think about every approach and outcome, then use every trick and piece of knowledge at your disposal to kill your enemy. If you're fighting an unskilled, "easy" opponent...then you give it everything you have. You think about every approach and outcome, then use every trick and piece of knowledge you have to grind them into dust. Unless you have a very specific reason not to. All it takes is one lucky shot from an unskilled archer to kill the most talented warrior. It only takes a single misstep to allow a novice opponent a killing blow. I don't care how good you are, no one can get it right every single time. It might not happen often, but if you charge headfirst into enough fights, you'll meet that lucky arrow eventually. I don't care if we're fighting mudcrabs, we'll be fighting them smart. We're going to get in there under the surface of the water, establish positions on opposite sides of the docks, then push them from both sides. If you're right and these bandits are pushovers, then we'll just kill them extra quickly." Sharee chided before shifting her attention to Noelle. "Now, if you would, go ahead and apply that chameleon."

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

"Agreed." Meesei commented. The crying cub was attracting some attention to them, and besides that, it would be good to have a place for them to put their belongings. Of course, they did not have a great deal of gold, and this time, they did not have much to trade. As a result, they would need to be frugal in their spending in this visit to the city. Meesei looked through the crowd until she spotted a guard that did not look to be doing anything. Compared to city guards in Imperial cities and in places like Thorn, the guards here were not quite as uniform. They sometimes used different weapons, and their armor was often made from different materials, but the armor was usually at least uniform enough that they could be easily recognized.

"One moment, wait here. I will approach one of the guards." Meesei said before stepping away. Meanwhile, Kaleeth seemed to be unconsciously sticking rather close to Janius, almost like a frightened child. Of course, in this case, she did have a legitimate fear to worry about. Since she had transformed recently, she did not feel too strong of an urge to turn at the moment, but if she did turn in the middle of a city, it would be catastrophic. It would mean the end of her life, and possibly many others. The thought frightened her, but she didn't have to worry about it at that very moment, so she did her best to push her fears to the back of her mind.

"Your home was made of these big white rocks?" Kaleeth asked curiously. "These walls look the same as the ones in these strange places you sometimes find in the swamp. I remember the Treeminder told me about them when I asked. He said they were...Aye-lee-id ruins. I...think he said they were elves, bad elves. They kept slaves like the Dunmer, but then the slaves killed them all. I wonder why they built this city around one of those places? We were always told to stay away from them because of the danger.Though...I guess they would be a good place to live if you could clean out all the monsters; they can stand up against the swamp very well."

Elder Scrolls: Terror of the Padomaic

Hmm, this should be interesting. Sharee should have quite a response for Sarel.

Call of the Hunt [EliteCommander and Muttonhawk]

Unfortunately, Rhazii did not maintain his peaceful composure for the rest of the day. Every other time Ahnasha set him down, she had to pick him back up a few minutes later to stop his crying, and usually to let him nurse. At least she hadn't expected it to be easy, so she wasn't surprised. Through the night, she could not begin to express how grateful she was to Fendros and the rest of the pack, as they took care of his screaming when he inevitably awoke in the middle of the night so she could rest.

Ahnasha felt well-enough to move the next morning, so they packed up and set out for Stormhold as quickly as possible. With what they had on hand, they were able to put something simple together to dress Rhazii in for the city, though she was sure he would ruin it soon enough. They were much less stressed to get there quickly than before. Now, they just had to worry about getting there before running out of food. Luckily, it was less than a day's worth of travel from their camp to reach the city. As they approached Stormhold, they were easily able to see that it was different from any place they had been thusfar in Black Marsh, even Thorn. It was not walled and was built in the middle of the swamp instead of on the coast, so it felt more wild than Thorn, but nevertheless, it was a large city with obvious Imperial influences in its structures. Like most cities, it was divided into districts, though most of the buildings were similar in style. The layout was much like a standard Imperial town, with a grid-like system of roads and pathways between one and two story wooden buildings. The buildings themselves had Argonian aesthetic styling and were built to withstand the humid environment, but even so, many were not quite as well-maintained as the buildings in Thorn. Passing by one of the poorer districts, they could see some buildings that looked close to collapsing from woodrot at their foundations. At least one they could see from the main road actually had collapsed. The biggest exception to this in the city was the very center, the Ayleid district. Stormhold was an Argonian city built around an Ayleid settlement whose structures still stood. There were tall walls made of white stone between which several wooden, well-maintained buildings stood. In contrast to the rest of the city, they were both expensive and aesthetically pleasing, especially with the Ayleid structures surrounding them. The city's Hist tree wasn't in the exact center, as was common among Argonian settlements. Instead, the center was the entrance to the underground portion of the Ayleid's original settlement. Meesei was not exactly sure what it held, but she guessed it was either the wealthier locals, or the local government. Perhaps both.

For Kaleeth, she could not help but to stare in amazement at the city around her. Never in her life had she seen anything like it. Everything, even the uncomfortable clothes Meesei had made her wear, was so foreign. She could think of no words to describe it, but her expression easily gave away her wonderment. As far as cities went, Stormhold wasn't greatly impressive, but it was still more than she had ever seen. She could not fathom why people built such large houses, or why they needed so many. With how many people that could fit into a single one of these homes, she guessed a great deal of people must live in the city. The road they were walking along was rather crowded, which also had the effect of upsetting Rhazii. Being just over a day old, all the chaotic activity around them stressed out the tiny Khajiit, Despite her best efforts to calm him down, Rhazii was crying in Ahnasha's arms loudly enough to turn some heads in their direction.

Ahnasha tried in vain to calm Rhazii by rocking him in her arms, but she made no progress. "Meesei, I think we should hurry and find an inn or something. I don't think Rhazii likes all these people."