Tamriel RP

[A Joe in the Bush]

Hello Everyone! This is an RP set in the World of Tamriel! if you would like to Join in, please Follow This Link to our Planning thread

 

Sulen reigned in his horse outside of the Sanctuary. The Family wouldn't be expecting him back so soon. The Jarl of Riften was a well defended target after all, but then, no one ever expected bridges to collapse. He was quite proud of that one.

 

He tied his horse, Nightmer, to one of the walls of the house that guarded the Black Door of the Skingrad Sanctuary. The house was less than a Mile away from the Western gate, but few knew of it. And it was Sulen's job to kill those who did know of it.

 

He placed his hand on the Skull pattern of the Door, and waited. "What cure's all Disease?"

 

"Only Death, my Brother."

 

"Welcome Home" The door swung open, as it did everytime he gave the password. The Night Motherherself had enchanted these doors long ago. Only a brother of Sithis could enter, unless they willingly gave the password to another. He entered his long time home on Silent feet.

 

Ormax was at his table, writing furiosly when Sulen opened his door. "Ah, Brother, your timing is most Serendipitous! How is Jarl Bjorn doing?"

 

Sulen smiled and and pushed his hood back. "Well, he hasn't learned to swim yet, and I don't think he'll get an opprutunity to learn any time soon."

 

"Well, I'm glad your back. We have a contract for you. Good pay, More Local than your last job." He pulled a ledger out of a pile of Papers, and slid it across the table to him. "I know you're just back from a long mission, but you're the only brother suited for this task."

 

Sulen skimmed through the ledger. A Bandit Leader? "I thought Lefty was in charge of Bandit assasinations. You have me do Politicos usually." And the Chieftan appeared to be a Vampire. Great.

 

"He's out on a contract, and if you read about the defenses, you'll realize just why we chose you."

 

The defenses? Oh, Wow. Nothing that Duke and Velth couldn't handle though. "So this Contract isn;t for me, it's for my Friends?" They had done that before.

 

"If you choose to do it that way. Your pay is enough for 5 or 6 people on this job. The Client is none other than the Count of Bravil after all."

 

Sulen nodded, then dropped the Ledger on his desk. "Alright. I'll contact you through the Bravil Sanctuary was I'm there." He turned and left the room. But as he was closing the door, Ormax called out.

 

"By the way, Jarl Torbald, of Riften? He's put out a contract on your head. You were seen Sulen. You're slipping."

 

Sulen paused, then closed the door and left the Sanctuary. He'd head West, to Kavatch first. Pick up Velth, then Duke. After that, they'd compare notes and see if anyone else wanted to come along.

Edited October 1, 2014 by The Only Joe

[Voidus]

Velth Telvanni stood up from his desk, stretching his aching neck, he'd been pouring over ancient tomes for hours trying to find a new method for summoning Daedra from Oblivion, there was something interesting about using correctly shaped Ayleid Welkynd stones to resonate with the Magicka. Well it was early days yet for his research.

A knock on the door to his study jolted him from his musings and he went to answer it, an acolyte for the college handed him a message from Sulen, an old Dark Brotherhood contact he'd worked some missions with. What was he after now? He'd told the man he was through trying to rediscover how to turn people inside out, besides didn't they have Festus up in Skyrim for that kind of work? He scanned the note quickly, arching an eyebrow in surprise, a job? Well it had been a while since he'd left the college and the note said there was a vampire involved, always difficult to study vampires, and his dust stores were running a little low.

He penned a quick reply telling Sulen that he'd join him when the assasin arrived in Kvatch, he handed the letter back to the acolyte who bowed and left. Now, he'd need to prepare, where was his staff? Oh and that new summoning scroll... He shifted through the tottering piles of books and miscellaneous artifacts that formed his study, and wondered which, if any, apprentices he'd drag along for the trip, perhaps the budding necromancer?

[BreathTaker]

"Chapion Warfist! Champion Warfist!" A young apprentice burst in to Duke's study, "Champion, a letter has come for you." Duke looked up from his book Knights of the Nine "Young Orlog, haven't I expressed to enough not to barge into my quarters without knocking?" The young Orc looked down at the book and realized Duke held a small knife by the blade, ready to throw.

 

"I'm sorry Champion, but the courier said it was urgent." The boy lowered his head in shame at the chiding. "It's fine boy, just give me the letter, afterwards I want you to don the set of lead lined steel armor and run to the city gates and back twice." Orlog handed the note to Duke and saluted him, "Yes, champion." That boy will be a good Leader one day Duke thought to himself as he opened the note.

 

Duke, the letter said, I want you to meet me in Kvatch. It has been Spoken that there is a good deed for us to do near Bravil and our Friend wants you and Velth to assist me.

 

Duke sighed before burning the letter. Velth wasn't a bad guy but it was difficult working with someone who used the kind of magic he did. Oh, well. Time to get his things together.

 

About half an hour later Duke was in the stables throwing his saddle bags across Slayer. Duke jumped in the saddle of his War horse wearing his black painted Steel armor with all its enchantments and his long bladed ebony sword on his back.

As he rode out of the stable he sent one of the stable hands to go help Orlog remove the plate when he got back and give him some Nord Mead to help the muscle cramping.

 

As Duke rode out the gate he sent a runner ahead of him to Kvatch with a simple letter to Sulen, I'll meet you in Riverhold.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

A week later Duke rode across the border into Elsweyr and into the city of Riverhold. He rode to the first inn he could find and got a room and waited for his friends.

[Lightsworn Panda]

Arantir strolled out into the pouring rain, heading for the dirt road that was perhaps a couple hundred paces too far from the tavern he was staying in. Beside him, a figure slipped out of the shadows and followed him.

 

"Still disgruntled about that Mage's letter, are you?" asked the Nightlord Vampire, falling into step with Arantir.

 

"Sandro, I thought I told you to stop reading every letter I receive," grumbled Arantir, his mood worsened by Nature's equivalent of an impromptu bath raining down from the heavens.

 

"You know that you forfeited any modem of privacy when you partnered up with me," grinned Sandro. "So how does it feel to be called a "budding necomancer"?".

 

"Oh, Just be quiet. I'm still accepting that quest. I will murder that vampire in the way I wish I could murder you right now," muttered Sandro.

 

Reaching the road, Arantir scanned the road. Decades of using the dark art of necromancy had given him the ability to sense death, or places of death. A couple of years ago, a carriage had crashed nearby, killing both its passengers and the horses. While the bodies of the passengers had long since been removed, the carcasses of the horses had only been buried in  shallow grave. 

 

A strange, unnatural fire gathered in the palms of Arantir's hands briefly, before winking out. Two skeleton horses burst out of the ground, mouths gaping in a silent scream. The skeletons were held together by the same unnatural fire that had been in Arantir's palm, and while transparent and as incorporeal as smoke, held the horses together. throwing a saddle over one, Arantir hopped onto it, settling himself into a position as comfortable as it would allow. While they were uncomfortable, the horses would never run out of stamina nor grow tired, as they were dead, and would only stop when the magic that held them together ran out or when they were commanded to stop.

 

Sandro mounted his horse with the fluid grace that most vampires had, and at a silent command, the horses leapt forward, heading towards the Mage Velth.

[Observer]

Dar'Omnir released the arrow, watching it eat up the air between the bow and the guard before burying itself in the unfortunate human's shoulder. With a panic-filled yelp, the man toppled onto his back alongside his dead companions. Up above, hidden near the ceiling, Dar'Omnir glared down at the intruder. The Khajiit cursed his luck quietly, grumbing to himself as he moved into position above the injured man. "Why did you people have to follow me here?" Dar'Omnir said, slipping the bow over his shoulder and dropping onto the guard's stomach. Carefully and quickly, the Khajiit kicked the human's sword aside and slit his throat. After a moment of hesitation, he stomped on the head a few times as well, half out of caution and half out of anger.

 

"All I did was talk a few morons out of their pocket change.  Frankly it's their fault for being gullible enough to give it to me. And yet you idiots just had to come in here and ruin my mood." The scamming had just been a simple diversion to pass the time, and Dar'Omnir had been careful to disguise himself as well as his tracks. And yet, they'd somehow identified him while he was heading home from picking up the message, and then they'd burst in and made him kill again.

 

Still, it wasn't as inconvenient as it could have been. The house he'd been staying in wasn't even his own, and he wouldn't even be in the city come sundown. The Khajiit pulled the letter out of his pocket, closing his bad eye and squinting with the other, trying and succeeding at cheering himself up with the simple act of rereading it. "A job from the Brotherhood. A job with a whole cave full of targets! Now that I can work with!" Sure, there would be other people coming along for the ride, but he could work with that. All Dar'Omnir had to do now was pack up the alchemical equipment, and he could be on his way. There was fun to be had.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Sulen left Nightmer in the care of the Stableboys, tipping them extra to make certain he would be well cared for. Then he walked about a third of the way around the city, and opened up a trapdoor that was attached to a bush. The Brotherhood had tunnels into every major City in Cyrodil, and a good number of Cities in the other provinces as well. Minus Morrowind of course. Blasted Tong and their House of Troubles. THe tunnel exited in an alley next to the Kavatch chapter of the Fighters Guild. Because of that, the Alley was always abandoned. Good old Jar-Heads kept their place clean of Beggars and Miscreants.

 

The Mages Guild was a large building, and just across the square from the Fighters. Magi tended to favor large Windows and Towers. It made it pretty easy to break into. Sure, he could have just used the door, but it didn't hurt to keep in practice. The hardest part of the whole breaking and Entering was finding Velth's Quarters. Once he did, he simply picked the lock, and walked in. The room was empty. So Sulen pulled up a chair, stole a bottle of WIne, and sat down to wait.

[Voidus]

Velth walked through the corridors of the College of whispers, a teetering pile of books in his arms. Cursed librarian had starting imposing limits on how many books Velth could take out at a time. He was a senior enchanter damnit!
Still grumbling to himself he opened his door and almost walked straight passed Sulen sitting in one of his chairs drinking a bottle of wine. Velth took a closer look.
"Make that a bottle of my wine. I was saving that for when I present my paper on the effect of Welkynd stones on stable Oblivion portals to the Imperial City. That's a Surilie vintage 399!"
Velth double checked the lock on his door though he knew it was pointless, Sulen was too good to leave any evidence that he'd broken in.
"Well you can at least pour me a glass" he told the assasin, getting his spare glass out from a cupboard and handing it over.
"So, you need some help with a vampire?"

Edited September 2, 2014 by Voidus

[Lightsworn Panda]

Just as Velth sat down, the wall-length window that offered beautiful panarmic views over the city caved in to two figures on skeleton horses. The horses broke apart from the impact, scattering bones across the floor of the chamber. One of the figures had detached smoothly seconds before impact and was now somehow standing at the side of the room, chuckling at the other figure, who was lying in the largest pile of bones.

 

"Smooth landing, Arantir. Executed perfectly." said the figure standing at the side of the room in between chuckles.

 

"Shut up, Sandro. Just because your vampirism let's you survive that landing unhurt doesn't mean you can taunt me about my humaness," growled Arantir as he picked himself out of the jumble of bones, wincing from some of the bruises he had incurred.

 

"What the..." gaped Sulen, flabbergasted.

 

"Ah yes, I should probably apologize for my entrance and the collateral it has incurred." said Arantir, realizing that there was someone else in the room. His hand glowed briefly as he healed himself with the Magic of Restoration.

 

"Arantir, why did you have to come in through the window!?" asked Velth incredulously. "You're a Mage Guild Member. you can walk in any time! And we're a good ten storeys off the ground!".

 

"Ask him why," replied Arantir, glaring at the grinning vampire.

 

"Well, it was faster," countered Sandro, hiding his impish grin behind a hand, "and the city catapults were placed at such a convenient position"

 

"By the way, aren't you in the Dark Brotherhood, Sulen? What are you doing in this room?"

 

"Nothing," replied Sulen nonchalantly. "Just enjoying a bottle of wine."

 

"Wait, so I went to all that trouble to get my bottle of wine from a dungeon, and someone else brought their own!?"

[Ashiok]

A rope suddenly flew through the broken window, and knotted itself around a sturdy chair leg.

A high elf in a cowl then walked across the rope from the neighboring building.

"I saw two idiots on skeleton horses flying across the city. One was about to impale himself on a spike, so I levitated him briefly. It was you! The one with the indignant look on your face. You owe me your life. What is your name, and do you know anything about Somerset Shadows? Also, what is a Dark Brotherhood member doing in the mages guild? I DEMAND ANSWERS!"

He looked around the room, and saw Velth.

"Velth! Old buddy! It's been too long! Why are you with this idiot necromancer... Wait. Is this the apprentice you were telling me about before? You were right. He really is a clutz. So why are you here with your apprentice and a DB member... Oh, that must be Sulen.  Nice to meet ya, I've heard a lot about you. That just leaves Duke, right? Where is he? Can I get his autograph? Oh yeah... Seriously though, why are ya'll here?"

Edited September 3, 2014 by Ashiok

[Voidus]

Velth was just about to take a sip from his glass when the window exploded and two skeletal horses jumped through. One had the glowing eyes of a vampire, the other was currently picking himself up from amid the pile of bones. On the verge of launching a lightning bolt at the two intruders Velth checked himself just in time. That one was the necromancer he'd summoned, Arantir, what in Oblivion had inspired him to make such an entrance?
He had just calmed himself down and inquired as to their most unconventional entry when a rope came through the window and tied itself around a chair and in walked Al'al.
It was times like this that Velth regretted not growing his own tower like the one he'd had back in Morrowind, so fewer intrusions.
Then again he'd taught Al'al the levitation spells himself so the Altmer would still be able to barge in on him.
He stood stunned as the high elf began a tirade, switching topics too fast to follow.
"Enough!" Velth bellowed to them all.
"Why can't I ever be friends with normal people who use doors?" He asked of no one in particular.
"Well I suppose introductions are in order, this is Sulen, yes he's a member of the dark brotherhood, no you shouldn't just yell it out like that or he might decide to poison your glass. Sulen this is Arantir, the necromancer I told you about, one of the most skilled in the college. Who his companion is I have no idea, he keeps strange company. And this is Al'al I taught him some Alteration spells a while back in return for a favor, I thought he'd be useful to have along. Now if everyone is quite done breaking things, let us sit down, take a glass and hear what this mission is all about shall we?"
Pouring himself another glass Velth sat back down in his chair as the others took their own seats in the crowded room.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Sulen Got over his surprise at the broken window almost immedietely. That was the problem with Mages. They couldn't not make a scene. Storming Magi and their Egos and loud voices. Velth was better than most in that regard. Still, he could have kept Sulen's arrival quiet.

 

"Relax, I'm not going to Poison anyone's drink, unless I'm payed to. Though I did already put Laxitives in his wine," He gestured to the Necromancer, Arantir, who hurriedly spat at his mouthful of Wine. "Or did I? Anyway, Velth, I came to ask you for help. My Family has given me a contract to assasinate a Bandit chieftan, with an added bonus if I can take out the entire group. I'm willing to pay for your Help in this matter, as well as anyone else you Would like to bring. And we'll be stopping by Riverhold to grab Duke as well."  He put the cork back in the bottle, and slid it into the wine rack.

 

"Also, I would like it if People could be, Indiscreet about my visit and occupation. I haven't had to kill a Magi in over a Year, andI wouldn't want to break that Streak."

Edited September 3, 2014 by The Only Joe

[Observer]

Dar'Omnir froze, listening carefully. So, there are people in this room. But are they the Brotherhood? Dar'Omnir leaned in to listen, then winced at the sound of a window crashing inward. Somebody has no idea how to be stealthy, he grumbled to himself, listening long enough to verify that this was indeed the right room. Pulling out his lockpicks, Dar'Omnir made quick work of the locks on the door, and then sawed around for a deadbolt, just for good measure. Quietly, he opened the door. 

 

Inside, the Khajiit saw one of the stranger gatherings of people the Brotherhood had ever assembled. A necromancer, and a vampire too. This is going to be interesting. "Am I the only one who bothered using the door?" Dar'Omnir asked, strolling into the room and leaning against one of the walls. He smirked at the window, and glanced back at the group. "What's the point of secretly arranging a meeting like this if half of us are just going to announce their presence to the world like this? Seems bad for business..."

[Voidus]

Velth looked up as yet another person entered the room, by the door this time thankfully.
 "What's the point of secretly arranging a meeting like this if half of us are just going to announce their presence to the world like this? Seems bad for business..." The newcomer announced, a bosmer? Taking a closer look Velth could just make out the subtle differences and noted how short he was.
"An ohmes? A rare sight anywhere far from Elsweyr, what brings you here?" Velth asked before he stopped to think.
Idiot, he just mentioned the meeting. Velth thought to himself angrily. He raised an eyebrow and looked quizzically towards Sulen, silently asking who the newcomer was with. 

[A Joe in the Bush]

"Arkay will it, will people stop dropping in unannounced? Dar, when I sent you that letter, I asked you to meet me in Private. Alright. This little get to together is getting a Bit crowded. Alright, you three!" He pointed at the three mages who were in the opposite cornerfrom Velth and Sulen. My Name is USlen, some of you have heard of me. This is Dar'Omnir, an, associate of mine, who unfortunately saved my life once. He'll be helping me on this Contract. You three can come along, If Velth says you can be trusted. If you do Come along, you'll get paid good money, and if you talk aboutthe mission afterwards, I'll slit your throats and drop you in Black Marsh."

 

He turned on the Khajiit. "Dar, This is Velth, I've told you about him before. I already know that you want to come with me, so I won't even bother to ask. Velth, Can any of those three be trusted?"

[Voidus]

Can any of those three be trusted? Well that was the question wasn't it. Velth was reasonably sure about Arantir, Necromancers tended to be used to keeping a certain amount of silence, the vampire was hardly going to be able to talk about it with anyone, but Al, well he did tend to go on a bit and he was quite focused in that quest of his, but then he'd never told anyone else about the spells Velth had taught him.
"Yes, I think they can be trusted." He replied. "I'll take personal responsibility for them."

[A Joe in the Bush]

"Well then, if they can be trusted, bring them along. I'm getting a bit tired of all the shouting about the Dark Brotherhood. If you're going to come along, meet me at the Eastern Stables at 10 Am tommorow. I'll be leaving then. And Velth, thank you." As he left, he slipped another Laxative into Arantir's drink.

[Lightsworn Panda]

Arantir glared at Sulen as he left the room, and tossed his drink over his back. That was a perfectly good cup of wine wasted. He may have been caught unawares, but he sure wasn't going to be fooled twice.

 

"One day, I'm going to make piano keys with his bones." muttered Arantir as he went to leave the room, Sandro following him like a shadow. If shadows could mock, that is.

 

Halfway down the stairs, Arantir remembered that recently a hot-blooded Destruction Mage had recently exterminated the entire rodent population of the Tower, and along with it most of the Tower's wooden furniture. The cleaners and novices hadn't had time to clean up all the charred corpses and skeletons, and most of them were stacked in corners awaiting removal. A smile crossed Arantir's lips as his hands glowed with the eerie light of Necromancy.

 

Arantir and Sandro had only walked a couple of flights before the first of the reincarnated rats reached Sulen, filling the tower with his screams.

[A Joe in the Bush]

Sulen stared in horrified Facsination as the Undead Rodents attacked the poor maid. It looked like Arantir didn't have as good a control on them as he thought. Note to self, be careful when messing with Necromancers.

 

He exited the tower by the front door, confusing the clerk who hadn't seen him come in, and made his way to the northernside of town. Around 300 years ago, every Town had their own Sanctuary. Kavatch's had been destroyed during the Oblivion Crisis, and only Sulen knew about it now. It's defenses still operated, so he could lie low until it was time to meet the others.

[BreathTaker]

After Duke had gotten into town and found a "nice" inn. He paid for a room to leave his things in, grabbed his coin purse and went to look for a drink.

 

After several hours of heavy drinking and bar brawls Duke found himself wandering the dark alleys of Riverhold. Eventually he stumbled into a shady looking Kahjit. "Come with Zargo, Nord. Zargo has what you want." Duke nodded drunkenly with a dim smile and foolishly followed the cat through a door into a dark building. Inside, people of every race and class laid across beds with little purple bottles scattered around them. Skooma.

 

"Zargo, gives you this. You drink this, you have good time." For some reason Duke thought it would be a good idea to take the bottle and down it in one drink.

 

The next thing you know, the room was spinning and everything was changing colors. Faster, faster and then finally... nothing. The room went black and then it grew blindingly bright. Duke sat up and made his way out the door in to the freakishly bright sun.

 

"Where in Oblivion am I?" Duke said, rubbing his stinging eyes. It seems he had gotten turned around in his stupor... was that a tiny dragon that just circled his head?... As he walked down the street the last thing he remembered was a blunt crack across his back and the feel of steel shackles clanging across his wrists. Damnit, not again. He thought as he got dragged to Riverhold dungeons.

[Observer]

Dar'Omnir was bored. This was not a new sensation for him, though this particular instance of it was particularly frustrating. Boredom of every kind had been his motivation for virtually all of the crimes he had committed, once they stopped being necessary for survival. Now, after a half-hour of mundane activities, the Khajiit was starting to lose patience. I can't run much of a con on such short notice, not without risking capture. It's been too long since I updated my information about the people nearby, so i can't play to their interests safely. Ordinarily I'd get started the slow way, but I just don't have the time right now. Trying something like that just isn't worth the risk at the moment.

 

Dar'Omnir paced circles around his little room, feeling his hidden knives and glancing at the chest of gear. It had been mildly distracting to find an inn, and the need for food and sleep had used up a lot of time as well. However, now that all of that was over, there were still three hours to kill before the meeting. Killing. Now that would be fun. But even that I can't do. An unexplained murder could just make things worse around here. Get the guards all riled up and everything. But......

 

There wasn't much else to think. Dar'Omnir had two talents worth mentioning, and they both connected to crime. There was nothing to do, and he would go insane if that continued to be the case. With a sigh, Dar'Omnir pulled up his hood and left the inn. Maybe a walk could do something. Maybe the fresh air and some haggling could help pass the time. Maybe he was just looking for an excuse to get into a fight. It didn't really matter either way. As long as I'm doing something, three hours won't be too long.

Three hours.

Three long hours...

Edited September 3, 2014 by Observer

[Voidus]

As everyone slowly filed out of his quarters Velth finished off the last of the wine and took a seat at his desk.
Might as well get some study in before we leave. He thought to himself as he pulled out a large tome on combat tactics for Destruction spells. Several hours passed this way as he read book after book, eventually the light dimmed, his candle burned out. Velth had already fallen asleep on his notes, fresh ink now smeared on his face.

[Mrs. Voidus]

It was earlier in the morning than many of the mages were used to - experience with passive aggressive reward hand overs had shown this. But Nynn had waited long enough after her morning hunting trip to return to the college in Kvatch.

She had always drawn looks as she walked the halls and dormitories of any college in Tamriel, but being an Orc in these places had their advantages.

 

For one thing, the mages assumed that discretion was part of the any dealings undertaken, due to the rarity of others of her race dabbling in the arcane arts. This lead to the second advantage in that it was much easier to drive a higher price and to assume the same no-questions-asked attitude to the occasional artefact that didn't appear when expected.

 

Some clients though, those on the elderly side (or middle aged for Dunmer) never offered Nynn the opportunity to short change them. This was not because of any lack in communication or work, but rather because of the unexpected upside to briefings.

Nynn had learned that those mages had knowledge of the land and how it used to be far better than the younger acolytes.

 

And this was the kind of information she had gotten involved with the wizarding folk to begin with - despite what her hold thought.

 

Arriving at the top floor at the slightly ajar oaken door with carvings of the "Withering of Delodiil" legend, Nynn knocked twice and pushed through. The room was colder than she had expected with the high winds blowing through a space where a window should have been and the minuscule remnants of a fire from the night before left carelessly to smoulder into nothing well before dawn. 

 

"Magister?" Nynn whispered. 

 

"Eh? What? Huh? Why is it so blasted cold in here?"

 

"I Imagine it has something to do with the - pardon the pun - ink on you face."

 

"Hmmm, yes, well. Why are you here? Brandy?"

 

"Magister, I like your style but it is very early."

 

"Oh" he said, pulling some papers together and walking over to his velvet slippers. "Well then, tea it is."
 

Velth ushered Nynn toward an old but very plush looking arm chair as he asked, "no sugar? So then, young warrior. What fascinating recovery have you made for me this time?"

[Voidus]

Velth steepled his fingers as he left his tea to cool, looking over at the young Orc warrior, she'd returned sooner than expected, Velth had been planning on leaving a note for her when they left. But this could definitely be an advantage, an extra pair of hands on this bandit raid wouldn't hurt, she could be paid entirely from Velth's share of the loot, he wasn't particularly interested in gold anyway.

"A pair of Welkynd stones and a crown from one of those Lich's that haunt the places, seems to be enchanted in some way." Nynn replied.

"Excellent, I've finished my research on the scepter you found last time, and there's also a wonderful chalice, take your pick." He told her, tossing a bag of gold over and gesturing to a nearby cabinet.
"Unfortunately someone already drank most of my wines last night, but I do have another task for you if you'd like, I'm helping out an associate with a bandit raid, plenty of loot to choose from, we could use someone with skills like yours and we can open a few bottles I'm having shipped in when we get back?" he continued as Nynn picked the chalice from the cabinet.
"Ah, I'll have to take the chalice, much better for showing off at parties." She said. "I'll go, so long as we can stop over at the 'Skittering scamp' for a glass of the 399 before we leave, you're my only client at the moment anyway." She continued, smiling.
"Done" Velth replied, a grin of his own tugging at the corners of his lips. It wasn't brandy, but Velth was never one to pass up a glass of fine wine when it was offered.
"We just have to make sure that we make it to the eastern stables by ten."
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Three hours later at 10:30, the pair slowly wove their way towards the eastern Stables, having decided to have a little more than a glass each, the young Orc supporting the Dunmer as they greeted an impatient Sulen.

[Observer]

Dar'Omnir watched the mage and his new company approach from his position near Sulen. What is he bringing an orc for? Do we really need another person here? Uncertain, Dar'Omnir threw a questioning glance at Sulen. The latest two were apparently a whole half-hour late, though Dar'Omnir himself was no better, having pushed the plausibility of the 'safety check' excuse with his twelve-minute tardiness. Still, he was proud of himself. He'd managed to last an entire eighty-six minutes of boredom. That had to be a new record.

 

"So, who's the new addition?" Dar'Omnir asked after a moment, waiting for the duo to get into earshot.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Observer

[BreathTaker]

The next morning Duke was released from the Riverhold drunk tank. You would think that Border towns would have bigger jails considering how many foreigners came in to town and spent the night in a free room. Duke's cell seemed to have been built for a Bosmer and smelled like it last had five Orcs locked in it after eating the local cuisine and drinking too much, and it was humid. 

 

After the Nord had gotten his effect back he realized that he didn't have his coin purse, Great, he thought. "Hey, where is my gold? it was in a Horker hide pouch with some Nordic Runes on it." The guards looked at him, then at each other and busted up laughing. "You did  not come with coin purse Nord, it seems Zargo robbed you of more than you mind that night." The guards continued to laugh as Duke left the Jailhouse. 

 

Once back in his room at the inn Duke pulled a small scroll out of his pack, that pouch didn't have all of his gold but it was his favorite wallet. Fortunately Velth had helped Duke out by weaving a tracking spell on it, Duke got robbed a lot when he got drunk.

 

Duke unrolled the scroll to reveal the most detailed map of Riverhold available, he took one of the coins that had been in the pouch from his pocket, he always took one out at the beginning of the night because of his tendency, and placed it at the gates of the city. The coin immediately started to move. First it went to the stables that Duke's horse was at, then to the inn and on to the several different taverns that the Nord had visited throughout the night. Next it went down a back alley and into a building, the den. Here was where the coin and purse were seperated, the coin flipped itself onto its other side indicating this. It continued down the street, the opposite direction from the jail where Duke had been dragged and led him all the way to the deepest part of the slums of Riverhold, a pit of filth and despair, and stopped.

 

Duke turned and dug through his bag, finding his ebony dagger and his hooded cloak, he threw  the navy blue cloak on and sheathed the dagger in his boot. Out the door he went, in to the slums of this humid, filthy city. The bowels of big cities were nothing new to Duke, he had ran through and basically grew up in the Grey Quarter as a child. But this was something all together different, Destitute Kahjit crouched on the streets, drinking or smoking Skooma. There were men and mer mixed here as well, people who had been robbed blind by their vices or in the rare case an actual cutpurse. The gutters were full of refuse and the smell of waste was almost tangible in the humidity. 

 

Finally, after almost an hour of fighting the urge to retch Duke found what he was looking for, the only clean house in this section of the city. It was a huge three story building, freshly painted and gated with two Redguards in heavy armor patrolling the perimeter of the house. Perfect, how in Oblivion am I supposed to get through there? He decided to try to sneak around the back and find a way through there. 

 

Once he was at the back, hiding behind a pile or refuse with his cowl pulled up over his nose, he found what he was looking for. There was about a twenty second period when no guard was circling around the back yard, amateur. As soon as the guards crossed each other and left an opening, Duke ran to the fence and got up and over in about ten seconds. In another 5 he was across the yard and scaling the wall to a balcony. Just as he landed on the balcony the guards circled back around and stopped. They had heard some sort of ruckus but evidently chocked it up to a cat scavenging for food.

 

Duke turned and examined the door in to the house. Inside, on the writing desk sat his pouch with its gold and gems spilling out. He knelt down and picked the lock to the door and found a seat in the corner to wait for the houses owner to return.

 

~~~~~~~

 

Shortly after Duke sat down a tall Imperial man walked into the room. He wore a crisp red suit and smelled of scented soap, he's a bleeding aristocrat.  The man walked to his desk and started counting Duke's gold. The Nord rose, walked up behind the man and placed his hand on the Imperial's mouth. Silently, Duke's ebony blade touched the man's throat. "Now, you flowery smelling piece of troll crap. One of your minions took something of mine." Duke whispered in the man's ear, breath hot and angry. "You what it is, the gold and jewels, which you still have in your hand," the coins fell. "Thank you. Now, before I take my leave, I want you to donate everything you own in to making the slums a better place. I want you to write down the you will do this and sign it." Duke released the Imperial but kept the knife at the man's back. 

 

The man sat down and began to write out his will to have everything donated to a charity to rebuild the slums, signed it and sealed it with his signet ring, "Good!" Duke laughed, he admired the man's composure during this whole ordeal. "Why are you doing this? What do you care if I run these slums? This is not your home, I make this place better by being here. I keep the men who are worse than me out! I protect these pieces of filth!" The man began to yell, looking Duke straight in the eyes, he actually believed what he said, wow. Duke sighed, "No, you don't do anything for these people but rob them and keep feeding them low quality Skooma. You're just as bad as every other slum lord."

 

The Nord knew that if it was obvious that this pig was murdered nothing would happen and the note would be ignored. But if he were to have killed himself... that would be a different story. Duke looked at the desk for a second and saw an ancient looking Dragon dagger resting on a stand, perfect, Duke grabbed it and stood behind the slum lord. "With this, you will guarantee that your will goes through." The man bowed his head for a moment before laughing, "You aren't going to kill me are you? You are going to have me kill myself." "No, I'm going to kill you... but it will look like you killed yourself." Without hesitating, Duke dragged the blade down the man's forearms and slammed it into his sternum. 

 

Duke grabbed the now dead man's arms and made him grab the dagger so it looked as though he had cut his own arms before stabbing himself and bleeding out. After he was done with that, he took his coin pouch and left the same way he arrived.

~~~~~~~~~~

 

By the time Duke had reached the stables to check on his horse it was almost night time. Once there he noticed a large, motley group of people standing about and asking the stable hand questions. The boy turned and pointed directly at Duke, who was reaching up under his belt for his dagger, before he recognized Velth's voice and Sulen's posture.