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Spoopy Scary
AlteredTundra
Lord ZeeMaking Friends
A Collab by @Rtron and @MacabreFox
Nanine and Rhona, early afternoon, 5th of Second Seed
Nanine cursed quietly under her breath as the petty soul gem broke. It was the second one on this attempt. The mother and father in front of her smiled patiently, simply glad anyone was helping them, and that she had managed to get their child’s clothing enchanted. It was a simple enchantment, one designed to keep the wearer warm. A threat that would become more and more pressing as time wore on. Which was why she was here, helping them. But now she apparently had lost the focus or feeling or whatever it is that she had when casting the spell previously.
Nanine would go through two more soul gems before she felt someone who wasn’t the parents looking at her. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing another Breton woman staring at her in something like second hand embarrassment. The woman seemed to be actually cringing at Nanine’s attempts.
”I take it from the look on your face that you’re more experienced at this than I? Would you like to get this done so they don’t have to wait on me and I don’t have to lose any more soul gems flailing about?” Nanine called, a self-deprecating smile on her face.
Rhona came to kneel beside Nanie, a smile on her lips. She had woken early from her evening spent with Calen, finding herself curled around his backside, her arm cast over his hip, and untangled herself from the warmth of his body. They had drank far too much spiced wine that last night, but Rhona had some important tasks to accomplish. She set out that morning while before he woke from his slumber, Gods only know where Tobias had gone, and set out back to her own tent, before making her rounds to see if her family had arrived yet. By early afternoon, on the way back to her tent did she happen to stumble upon Nanine, struggling to perform an enchantment. She set the pair of clothes aside, and cleared the ground below. Rhona bent her head to the ground and kissed the dirt beneath. She rose up, and with a practiced hand, drew out the enchantment with her fingertip. She returned the clothes to the center of the redrawn grid, and placed the soul gem on top.
Energy crackled along the grid as the soul gem glowed red before shattering into tiny shards and dust.
“There. That should do it.” She said with a confident grin.
Nanine raised an eyebrow, but otherwise didn’t comment as the woman kissed the dirt. The woman had her own methods, and Nanine certainly didn’t have any room to talk considering she had lost another three soul gems in the attempt. As the woman confidently and quickly drew out the grid and focused, Nani knew that this was someone far more experienced in the art of enchantment than her.
When the gem shattered into shards and dust, rather than pieces and failure, Nanine grinned. ”It worked. You should be kept warm for when it gets cold, at the very least.” The two parents took the clothes gratefully, profusely thanking Rhona and Nanine, before retreating to their tent. Nanine pulled herself to her feet and stuck her hand out. ”Nanine Tilhart. Pleasure to meet someone of your skills. I was beginning to tire of fumbling through that.”
”I don’t suppose you give lessons?” She said with a smile, only half joking. If this stranger was willing she wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity, and it wasn’t like she had anything better to do during her time here. She had no strings to pull to get inside the city, and there wasn’t any foes for her to protect the refugees from. All she could do was practice. But it was doubtful someone would teach another person they just met, especially after such a poor showing.
Rhona raised her eyebrows at the proposition Nanine gave her, they shook hands, “Rhona.” It felt strange using Cezare’s surname, and she didn’t want to take the chance of having him overhear her in case he happened to be close by.
“Ah well, I’m nothing of a teacher…” and while Rhona would normally have avoided the responsibilities associated with teaching someone how to better their enchanting skills, she couldn’t tell Nanine no.
“But what would you like to know?” She offered weakly.
Nanine smile grew wider with excitement. Finally! Someone who could teach her how to not be absolutely terrible at enchanting. ” Well, considering all I know is self-taught basics, and wartime camps are very good for those at all, and what The Enchanters Primer could teach me, anything you’d like to teach.” She unslung her pack, opening it. ”Before we begin though, what’re you charging? I’m afraid I don’t have any septims to give you, gave all I had to another family when I first got here, but I have some soul gems and skills that could be bartered in return for lessons?”
”Alternatively, I’m very good at destruction magic, pretty good at conjuration and pretty good at fighting, if you’d like to trade lessons for lessons?”
“I charge no fee, Mara would frown upon me for acting with kindness.” Rhona chuckled, “I’ll keep that in mind for later. But for now… let me teach you the most important lesson as an enchanter.” She set her rucksack on the ground, and rifled through it before pulling out her wooden tablet and charcoal stick.
“Think of enchanting as… sewing an article of clothing. Just like sewing you need a pattern, yes? Well it is no different. You have to know which elements you are incorporating into the enchantment. For example…” She cleared the board of dust, gesturing for Nanine to take a gander at what she was about to do, “With the Soul Trap enchantment, you need to draw out the proper grid. And use the associated symbols for life and death. Be careful not to confuse them with the symbols of light and dark. But as you can see, the center of the grid leaves a space for your item to be placed, and then you place the soul gem atop the desired item. It isn’t needed to place your hands on the outer grid lines… here,” she pointed to the exterior line of the circle, “unless you are a performing a major enchantment, such as enchanting a breastplate, a large weapon or when you are using a grand soul gem. For the smaller enchantments, simply setting the soul gem on top of the item will cause the grid the lines to crackle with energy and enchant the item.” She stopped to looked up at Nanine.
“Does that make any sense?” She often forgot that there weren’t many experienced enchanters, so she often got lost talking about enchanting, and how soul gems and grid lines and patterns worked.
Nanine shrugged. ”Your choice.” If Rhona didn’t want to be paid, Nanine wasn’t going to push for the unnecessary need to spend some of her resources. She watched intently as Rhona began to briefly make and describe enchanting. But as the woman got carried away, and the passion became more clear in her voice, Nanine looked up from the circle to stare at Rhona, a light smile on her face.
She loved hearing people talk about what they were passionate about. It brought out a whole new side of them, and lit up their faces. People seemed to glow when they talked about their passions.
Nani strove to memorize the moment, the way Rhona seemed lost in talking about enchanting and its inner workings, the way her eyes seemed to become warmer, and the enjoyment of her craft seemed to infuse every inch of her body.
A few moments after Rhona’s query, Nanine realized Rhona was expecting a reply. With a small start out of her intent study of the other woman’s face, Nanine replied, ”Yes, sorry! I was….nevermind. It make sense, though I must confess never hearing about the symbols, or drawing your own grid. Every time I have done it without an Enchanting Table, I usually just draw the enchantment into my mind, and try to focus it through the crystal onto the object.”
Nanine gestured ruefully to the broken soul gems in her pack. ”As you can see, that method has, shall we generously say, mixed results. Your way is much better. Would you mind drawing a few more out for me, and going over the symbols? If that isn’t bothering you too much, that is!”
Rhona dipped her head in agreement, “Of course, let me get my journal out.” She dove into her rucksack before pulling out a dark brown journal, well-worn from time and use. She thumbed through the pages before handing it over to Nanine, “I picked up enchanting when I was just past my sixteenth name day. I had a tutor, Vanozza, and she once told me, ‘A woman’s worth is not based on how many children she bears, nor how many dresses she owns, but her set of skills to offer.’, in other words, make something of yourself and don’t rely entirely on men.” She stopped talking afterwards, her mind fixated on two subjects, drawing out the next pattern, one for fortifying health. Yet her mind was also occupied with the events of the day before, hadn’t she relied on Calen to help her hide from Cezare? She chewed on her lower lip, did that make her weak? Rhona knew she lacked the courage to face him, no matter how she tried to justify her actions for leaving Cezare in the first place, she still felt cowardly.
Rhona focused wiping the board clean, and then retracing the familiar patterns of the fortify health enchantment. She remembered most basic enchantments like the back of her hand, it was with the more complex patterns that she had to draw out her journal.
“This is fortify health, very helpful when applied to something small like an amulet, a circlet, a pair of gloves or even a set of bracers. It uses the symbols of life, just like the one with the soul trap, and the symbol of earth, and also the symbol of fire. Because the earth gives us healing, while the fire provides vigor and strength, and the life is the main structure for this enchantment, that is why it is placed at the top, like so.” She rocked back onto the heels of her feet, now realizing that she had also left her boots in Calen’s wagon.
“I learned just a few years ago that one does not need an enchanting table to perform enchantments. Using a tablet such as this, or even the earth beneath our feet will work just as well. However, you must be extra vigilant not to break the lines you draw, or else the enchantment will fail. And if favorable, find a flat space where the dirt is plentiful to perform enchantments.” She finished speaking, her eyes focused on Nanine. She could tell that Nanine was a Breton, she had the distinctive features as such. She had a small straight nose, and a pair of magnifying stormy grey eyes. Her brown hair appeared well kept, and Rhona could spy a pair of blue pearl earrings too.
“Did you come from the Imperial City?” She asked quietly.
Nanine gratefully took the journal, flipping through the pages and taking a moment to memorize what was on each page. She would record them in her own journal later. For now, she would just store them in the back of her mind. She only raised an eyebrow at the mention that someone had to tell her that her value wasn’t in just how many children she could pop out. That she wasn’t already informed of that by her parents. Not that I have much room to judge, given how my parents told me that my value was decided by how well and how long I served the Empire. In a bittersweet way she was lucky that it was Willnven who had raised her, and not her father. Even if the cost was her parents and her city. She could still remember those days, helping with accounting in the caravan during the day and studying the Thalmor (or Daedra if she could sneak a book past Willnven) during the night. The memories brought a smile to her face.
Stopping her reminiscing, Nanine watched intently as Rhona went over another example, fortify health, and all the things it could be most efficiently applied too. Something that would be very useful to have in her growing repertoire of enchantments, as most people would like to have a healthier body, especially in these trying times. She began to work out how to best practice this new form of enchanting. I’ll have to keep an eye out for private, flat, places to practice. It’ll take a bit, but drawing out the grids of these shouldn’t take too long or be too difficult. Just need a good stick or to be really careful with my finger in desperate times.
She nodded in response to Rhona’s question. ”Yeah. I was there looking for work. My last contract as adventurer for hire had ended a few months ago and I needed a new...quest I suppose the term is.” She cracked a grin at Rhona. ”Like I’m some wandering knight back home, going to bring honor to my order.” She shook her head at the ridiculousness of the image, then continued. ”Anyways, I arrived the day before the Dwemer did. When they showed up I was just leaving a guildhall, empty handed in funds and quests. I thought to myself ‘Kynareth send me something.’ That’s when the Dwemer ships started filling the sky and their troops started falling to the ground. I guess my prayer was answered, but in the worst possible way.” She quieted a moment, remembering.
”I saw terrible things while putting down the Stormcloak Rebellion with the Legion and helping stabilize Skyrim afterwards. Necromancers and Vampires holeing up in caves and abandoned forts, their victims and prisoners rotting in cells. The horrors of the Falmer, deep in the caves. Stormcloaks refusing to yield despite certain death, and being butchered. But nothing quite compares to what the Dwemer did. It wasn’t the fact that they were murdering civilians, or that they have strange and powerful weapons.
It was the coldness. Most people, when they’re fighting a war, you can see emotion. It might be restrained and controlled, as with veteran fighters, but you can still see it. Rage, Fear, even an insane Joy in a few. With the Dwemer? Nothing. Dead eyes, precise movements, a very machine like air. That wasn’t a fight or the beginning of a war to them. It was a massacre of rodents, a reminder to every race beneath them that they were inferiors and their true masters have arrived. They had nothing to worry about, nothing to fear from anyone in the city. They weren’t beginning a war. They were just doing what they had to do. As if they were just cleaning up. When I finally had a moment to think and process, that wasn’t what scared me the most, their sheer arrogance and confidence. What scared me the most is that they just single handedly changed the face of warfare. They just single handedly altered war in Tamriel for centuries to come. If they get defeated or not, those staffs of theirs are going to be copied by the other nations, and it is the group who makes a successful copy first who will be in the greatest position of power.”
Nanine was quiet a moment more before shaking her head. ”But enough of that, I’m sure you don’t need to hear me go on about things you already know. Where did you come from? I’m going to guess it wasn’t from Imperial City.”
Rhona remained crouched beside her, her full attention on the Breton woman beside her. She furrowed her brows as she listened, she found the news about the Dwemer hard to digest. How could they be so cold and unfeeling in the face of adversity? Was it sheer confidence? Or was it something more malicious?
“I would have never thought that we would see the day where the Dwemer lived and breathed amongst us…” Rhona shook her head before saying, “I spent my winter in Rihad, I left for Anvil just a few months ago, and I spent the early spring building up my finances before I set out to come here. I’m still… surprised at the turn of events. I arrived here but two days ago, and all of a sudden I find a sea of tents outside the walls.”
”Pray you’re in the city before they come here then. If they come here.” She briefly scowled in frustration, irritated at the unpredictability of the Dwemer. If she had any idea of their motives or modern culture she could at least make an accurate guess on what they might do next. As it was, she could only make wild speculation based on what other races might do, and how accurate was that with a race that had disappeared from Tamriel centuries ago?
Shaking her head, Nani turned her attention to Rhona, and the other woman’s reply. Her eyebrows rose briefly. Rhona was quite the traveller. Even more so than Nanine herself, and Nanine had made a point to go as far around as she could.
”Apparently those finances ran out quick.” Nanine looked pointedly at Rhona’s bare feet. ”I have an extra pair of boots in my pack. We might be the same size, and can pad the inside if my feet are slightly bigger. I’ll be wearing my armor for a while yet, and I’m used to wearing it for a while besides. This isn’t anything new.” Nanine gave a wry smile, before setting about searching her pack.
”I don’t suppose you know why the Count suddenly closed the gates do you? I tried searching for information, but most I got was rumors or the angry opinions of desperate people.”
“Oh no thank you,” Rhona smiled softly, “I left my boots behind. It is a joy for me to feel Kynareth kiss the soles of my feet. There’s nothing better than having your feet covered in the tender earth blessed by her.”
“As for the Count… I have not the slightest idea.” She added, “If I had any clue, it’s probably to keep his citizen’s safe until he can figure out how to take care of the refugees. Count Hassildor is a good man, even if some of his decisions are questionable. He’ll do what is right for Skingrad.”
Nanine chuckled. The woman’s devotion was admirable, if not practical. ”Well, hope it is only Kynareth that kisses your feet. In camps like these hygiene is a very low priority. Your feet might end up covered in more than just the tender earth.” She smiled as she teased the other woman, before sighing.
”That’s the problem with being a leader, isn’t it? Being a good man for your people doesn’t always mean you be a good man for anyone else. These refugees need a good man. And so do the people of Skingrad. In times like these, someone is going to end up disappointed.” She closed her pack, handing Rhona her journal back. ”Thank you for the lesson. I’ll put it too good use throughout the day, I’m sure. You could tag along if you’d like. If not, would you mind terribly giving more lessons if we run into each other? Provided it’s not too much of a pain! I don’t want to impose upon you any more than I already have.”
Rhona returned her journal to its rightful place, and looked up at Nanine, she smiled, “If the winds of Kynareth blows in our favor, then I shall surely teach you again what I know. May your skies be bright and free of troublesome weather, Nanine.” She rose to her feet, and bowed her head.
“I’ve some errands to finish, but I am certain our paths will cross again.”
