Upon the dark of night, were the screams that were not heard from the depths of the cave from which they originated. Inside this cave, down its long and stretching tunnels and bellowing caverns, was a simple wooden door attached to the rock by an iron hinge. The blood that was splattered in this dimly lit room was now starting to drip, crawling to the floor, to reach the pools that contained its brethren. A newly dead Dunmer body supplied this pool with its blood as the body rested in the pool. A glint of light shined off of the bloodied dagger, in the hands of a covered lizard. This lizard wiped off the dagger with a white cotton cloth, throwing it on the ground.
After he had taken care of this poor old slaver, the Argonian walked from this room and up into the twilight of the world above. “Ya! Finally a breath of fresh air, that stuffy hell hole was crazy.” Let out the Lizard, as he ran down the road.
After a bit of travel, he finally arrived at a city, Cheydinhal, “Hello Sam, hello Trav, nice night, isn’t it?” commented the Argonian to the guards. “Yes it is, the stars are bright tonight,” Mentioned Sam. “Well I’ll see you around then?” and the lizard opened the doors to the city.
Upon entering Cheydinhal, he walked down the road away and into a store, selling to the Merchant who worked there, five gold rings and an iron axe. The Argonian then walked from this store, down the road and into the backyard of an abandoned house. Unlocking the barred opening from the well, he climbed down, relocking it and then touching the ground with a silent tap of his feet. “TM! Your home!” was a female Bosmer ‘s voice, and she came over and hugged him. “So, how did it go? You’ve dealt with that nasty Dunmer yes?” she asked. “Well of course I have, or I wouldn’t be here, now would I?” Tm commented as he walked into the sanctuary, greeting the guardian and then walking into the living area. He then sat on his bed, taking out his prized Glass dagger.
“I see your polishing that thing again,” Said the female Breton who sat on the bed next to his. “Yes, it’s the dagger I received when I was a child. I used to wonder around the slave camps, looking for food and whatnot, when I stumbled upon a bleeding Argonian, I recognized it as one the Dunmer who owned the camp. This Argonian was the Dunmer’s prized slave, a hard worker. He said, ‘Brother, help me out here. We have been taken from our homeland and worked as slaves; you know that it’s wrong, so please, as my spirit passes on, please brother. Please redeem my soul, release it from the grasps of the Dunmer. Take this dagger, brother.’ He then pulled the dagger out of his chest, and handed it to me, laying his head down as he took his final breath.”
“What happened?” She asked, clearly into the story. “Well, I took the dagger, and told him I would redeem his soul. That night, I left my slave quarters, and sneaked my way across the land, right up the steps of that Dunmer’s house. I knocked on the door, and he opened it about a minute later, and shouted at me saying, ‘What? Get off my property! How dare you sneak off, I’ll have you whipped!’ and at that moment I said, ‘No!’ He was surprised, ‘What? What did you say?’ was all that he could say. I said 'No, no more of this. You have enslaved my brethren, made them work for you, sold them off, but no more I say, no more shall you starve us, no more shall we die of thirst, no more shall we have to listen to you, this is why you die tonight.’ I then took out the dagger, and sliced his chest, once, twice, thrice, he fell, in pain. I carved the initials, ‘TM’ into his chest, cleaning the dagger off on his shirt, and then I ran. I ran till I could run no more. I ran day and night, and finally made it across the border, upon which I was free. Free of my slavery, free from the chains that held me to Morrowind, and man did it feel good. Then one night I was visited by the Dark Brotherhood, and told that I could find home at the sanctuary. And thus I followed them here, into my home.”
“Wow.” She was speechless, “How did you end up here?” Tm asked her. “Not much of a story, nothing special.” She told him. “Well, in case we didn’t officially friendly meet, my name is Tm, Glad to meet you.” he said, “Marie” was her response.
—
The next day, the Bosmer spoke with Tm, in the living area, “Tm, this is your next task. There is a Breton named James Marie, he fights in the Kvatch arena. James has been marked for death, and is to die in the Arena. He will be fighting in the Arena in two days, take your supplies and move. Oh and take his medallion, you’ll get a reward for it. Good luck.” She then handed him a scroll containing further information.
Tm gathered his supplies, a small enchanted needle from his dear Khajiit friend and several random things as he made his way out of the sanctuary. From the well he made way towards the door to the city, once outside he stopped to chat with the stable owner. “Hello dirt sack, I’d like a horse, swift and sturdy.” “What? Why are you so rude?” asked the Dunmer, surprised by the comment. “Well, after you enslaved my race, I tend to not rather like you. So, what will it be? You give me a horse, or I carve your eye out of its socket and string your intestines along the side of your house.” The Argonian said bluntly. “Eh, you can have a horse, take whichever you like, just don’t kill me.” The Dunmer was backing up while saying this. “Thank you.” Was all the Argonian said as he hopped the fence and took off on the horse.
Tm rode this horse past the Imperial City and down to Skingrad, where he rested for an hour before setting off to Kvatch. Once there he rode up the long mountain pass to the Fortified city, off the horse and into the city. It was nearing night by the time he arrived, Tm walked straight to the Arena, where a fight was about to begin, “Who is it?” asked the Argonian. “James Marie against Gundelas, poor sap that Gundelas is, hopefully he has a painless death,” Said the Imperial at the front gate.
Tm walked up the stairs to the seating area, having bet on James for the fight. He sat down in a chair facing the pit. “Ladies and Gentleman, prepare for a slaughtering, of the Green team’s Gundelas!” At this point people cheered, wanting to see the blood. “Tonight, Gundelas will die at the hands of the Red team’s incredible champion, JAMES MARIE!” The crowd exploded in cheers, as the Breton man walked from the gates of his team’s area. He was wearing a heavy armor, a steel long sword sheathed at his waist. “Now, for his challenger, the Green Team’s Gundelas!” The crowd booed as the Bosmer took to the arena, in light armor, armed with a dagger and a bow. “With out further ado, EXCHANGE BLOWS!” shouted the announcer.
–
Gundelas shot up from his position, grabbing a hold of a pillar and releasing a shot from his bow with one hand. James quickly unsheathed his sword and sliced through the arrow as he went into a spin, slamming the edge of his sword into the pillar. The pillar crumbled with a roar, falling to the side of James, Gundelas jumped off and landed on the top of another pillar. With a long round about swing of the sword, the next pillar was smashed to pieces, Gundelas falling down and landing on his arm. A painful scream was released as the snap was lost to the cheering of the crowd. James’s sword spun around his head, and struck into the ground, through the skull of Gundelas.
“And He’s gone!” Shouted the announcer, “Once again, James Marie!” He paused for a moment, “Is victorious!” The crowd was already cheering, on their feet. Tm watched as two Khajiits grabbed the body and moved it into one of the corridors, James walked into the opposite side. “Anything else going on tonight?” Tm asked another person in the box. “Yeah, a party down at the castle, you should go,” Responded an Imperial, starting to walk away. “Ok, I’ll be sure to come,” stated Tm.
Around two in the morning, the Argonian snuck around the walls of the arena, to the doors where he jumped up, and over the gate. He walked towards one of the doors, unlocking it with a picklock and then sneaking down the stairs. Tm crept around the sleeping people there, and up to the doors of the arena, he then opened it, caring out his plan. After about an hour, the Argonian opened the door again, coming back into the room and then up the stairs.
That night, Tm was in one of the upper class seats, watching several competitors fight. Then it was James Marie versus Ashii, a female Argonian. First was Ashii to the floor, she was young, perhaps a year younger than Tm. Ashii was wearing leather armor, it was torn up and she didn’t have a helmet, though she did have a steel shortsword. Then came out James, in his Steel armor, all shiny and gleaming, along with his sword. He raised his sword and the fight was on. Ashii was quick, with two hits right off the back, James blocked the second hit with his shield though, lunging towards Ashii while striking her blade. Ashii stepped backwards, as James was marching toward her, his blade swinging steadily, when she ran to the side to come upon him. James wasn’t surprised; he quickly turned and struck Ashii hard, the blade hitting her arm. She let out a painful grunt as she fell down to the ground, holding her broken arm.
Ashii was backing up on the ground, pushing against it to get some distance; though James was walking faster than she get could away. She knew this was it, as she raised her sword above her head to protect herself, turning her head away and closing her eyes. She feared it; James walked up and raised his sword in the air, thrusting it towards her, as Tm smiled. At this moment, the ground beneath James’ burst, a small blue arrow flew upwards with tremendous speed. The arrow pierced through the bottom of James’ skull, slicing through his head, and his brain. As the arrow finally came out of the top of James’ head, it let out a small light and then exploded. James’ face exploded inside his helmet, the helmet bending and then bursting outward in a fleshy fountain. The headless body was blasted backwards, the sword swinging backwards and the tip facing towards the Breton. The body landed on the back of the shoulders, the sword sliding through the armor and into James’ heart, and then straight through the other side to the ground. Blood shot out of the hole in the top of the head, before finally coming down to a stop.
Everyone in the Arena, except Tm, was stunned; Ashii opened her eyes, turning her head to see what happened. She lowered her sword, and looked at the blood covered arena, then towards the air and she closed her eyes. “Your welcome.” Whispered Tm to himself as James’s medallion landed into his hand. He then turned around and walked down the stairs.
-
The next day as Tm was inside an inn getting ready to leave, a young Argonian woman tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw Ashii, her arm in a sling. “Thank you for yesterday,” She said energetically. “What did I do yesterday?” Asked Tm. “You saved my life, and without you I would have died right there,” responded Ashii. “So you knew I did that then," said Tm. “I saw you with James’s medallion, so I knew you must have had something to do with it.” Ashii told Tm, pausing slightly and then continuing. “I don’t have a way to make money because of my arm and the arena won’t let me live there because I can’t fight.” Tm thought for a moment before saying, “I could see about getting you a place.” “Really?” asked Ashii, surprised. “Yes, from the way you battled last night, I can tell you’re quick. So I offer you to be my apprentice,” said Tm. “Deal,” stated Ashii as she sat down next to Tm.
The two Argonians were off on horseback by dawn, trekking up the road towards the Imperial City. “So how did you get to Kvatch?” asked Tm, to which Ashii replied, “It’s too long of a story.” “Nonsense, go ahead and tell your story,” replied Tm. “Oh alright,” Ashii frowned and then went back to her neutral state. “Well, I was born in Leyawiin, and my family was poor. We shared a shack with another family, when I was around fourteen; our two families were taken away from the house. Since we were poor we had nowhere to go, and I thought I might as well just go off and find some way to make money. So when a couple of merchants came to town looking for fighters, I signed up. The caravan went to the Imperial City where there was a little tournament to see who would be able to fight in Kvatch, which was about ten of us.” “Ah, a natural fighter huh?” commented Tm.
As they crossed the long stretch of bridge that lead to the Imperial City, the sky was then dusk. The two dismounted their horses and then walked through the doors to the city. Inside the city, they walked towards the Tiber Septim hotel, renting two rooms and then promptly falling asleep. Tm woke up in the morning around five, and went around to where Ashii was sleeping, he crept open the door and shook her awake. “Wha?” she asked sleepily. “Come on, we should get going.” Tm whispered. “It’s so early!” Ashii complained as she sat up. “Apprentice’s duty, now come on.” Tm yanked Ashii out of bed and said, “Get your day clothes on.” “Ok, Ok,” responded the female Argonian.
The two were off yet again, this time heading for Cheydinhal, this time it was Ashii who asked Tm how he made his way to Kvatch, “Tm, yesterday you asked me how I got to Kvatch, now I want to know how you got to Kvatch.” Tm simply replied with a, “You’ll see.” “What? I want to know now!” stated Ashii, half demanding, half kiddingly. “Sometimes you must wait and see,” responded Tm. “Aw,” grumbled Ashii who then laid her head on the horse’s neck.
When they reached Cheydinhal, the stable owner walked up with two guards, “This is him! I told you he would be back!” Though, when the guards saw Tm one of the guards said to the owner, “Sir, are you sure this man wasn’t just renting your horse?” “Am I sure? Of course I’m sure, he didn’t even pay,” Yelled the owner, furious. “Oh, I didn’t pay?” Asked Tm as he handed the owner the horses, and a couple pieces of gold, “I thought I did, I’m sorry.” “See sir, now let us get on with real duties,” said one of the guards as they turned around and walked up to the gates. Tm turned and walked towards the gates as well, Ashii hurried up to him and asked, “What was that about?” Tm smiled and said, “Just some friendly business.”
Tm walked through the city with Ashii next to him; he turned to face an abandoned house, walking into it, Ashii brushed up against Tm. He walked into the basement and then down a tunnel where it suddenly became red. A deep voice was heard to which Tm replied, “Sanguine, my brother.” The door slid open and Tm and Ashii walked in. “Tm!” The Bosmer ran up and hugged him, “I heard there was a big upset at the Arena, so I assume you did your job right?” Tm smiled and answered with, “Of course, and I got the medallion.” “Oh nice,” the Bosmer said as she then looked towards Ashii, “And who is this?” “Uh, I’m Ashii.” Ashii said nervously. “She is my new apprentice, she is very quick, although she currently has an injury.” Said Tm. “Hmm, well let’s see what we can do about that,” the Bosmer said as she turned around and walked towards the living area.
Inside was Marie and a Redguard named Adriel; they were talking to each other. When Marie saw Tm, she smiled and waved before returning to her conversation. Tm smiled back and followed the Bosmer to one of the beds where she told Ashii to sit. “This is one of the healing spells I learned while working at the temple.” She said while her hand glided across Ashii’s arm, the hand lit up a bright white and Ashii bit her teeth together. The Bosmer took her hand off of Ashii’s arm and said, “It should be fully healed by tomorrow. Now here are your new clothes and here are the rules.” She then set a set of shrouded armor and a copy of the Five Tenets on the table next to the bed before turning and walking away, “Oh, and welcome to the Brotherhood sister.” Ashii looked surprised, “The brotherhood? Does she mean the Dark Brotherhood?” Tm smiled, “Of course, it’s why I was in Kvatch, and it’s why you’re still alive.” Ashii sighed, “It’s alright with me, but I guess I better get myself familiar with this place.”