The Elder Scrolls: Hammerfell [IC]

[Hastiaka]

Captain Calia
Road to Taneth | Hammerfell Province

---

By this point they had been several leagues away from the burning city. The group was an odd mix of Imperial and Dominion spies, Redguards, Nords and whatnot. Calia put her hands in her concealed pockets and felt a piece of folded paper- it was the last order given to her before she was caught by the Alik'r counterspies.

Captain Calia,

In response to your last year's report dated 11th First Seed 434, The Taneth site has received and evaluated the situation and has ordered you to sabotage the growing threat of the Alik'r counterespionage by creating a diversion. The instructions are as follows;

- Instigate a civil conflict between the local Crowns and Forebears in the Rihad region.
- Evaluate the integrity of the Rihad prison for future prison-break operations.

Glory to the Dominion!

Calia smiled as she read the instructions. Funny enough, she indeed fulfill one of the two; the prison-break part. Technically though they were set free, but it was quite an irony. After reading it, she crumpled the paper and burnt it with flame. Since there's Rihad region anymore. The entire city was destroyed by the mysterious invaders. Calia's long elven ears heard the nearby whisper, Calia turned left and right and saw no one until she caught sight of the odd mer walking towards her distance. She had not seen any race of mer like that before. The mer was the whitest, palest creature she'd ever seen before. Then it hit her- it was a snow-elf! a Falmer! She could not believe it, this Falmer was actually civilized and not savage like the others. Calia replied;

''Mer? Yes, I'm an Altmer from Sunhold in the nation of Alinor. Do you understand what I'm talking about?'' she asked, Calia then noticed the mer was a little bit confused. Luckily, she knew a little bit of Ayleidoon because of the Thalmor's history classes and she hoped the mer would understand. The Snow Elves were neighbors to the Heartland High Elves after all. Speaking in rough and ragged Ayleidoon, she smiled at the Falmer.

''I'm....uh... how do you say this in... A auran ni, A admia ni can, man ni?'' but those were the only words she understood and could speak.

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell?

---

This, she understood. She knew not Ayleidoon, but her own Falmeris was so close. After all, Ayleidoon had been used in days past to study the Falmer tongue of long ago! Lilyarel looked toward the woman, or tried to, lifting her head and smiling. Her hazy pale eyes opened a bit wider, though this helped little in identifying the mer before her. Did she say Altmer? The woman's Ayleidoon sounded more like a strange dialect, but most of it was understandable. She expected, then, that her tongue would be so to the woman.

"Arcten Auri-el!" she stated, clearly elated, "B-buro..." she whispered, this being the word for 'slave'. She coughed, and tried to stand once more, then began to speak in complete sentences once more, "Please, help me: I am a Falmer from Mzinchaleft, and I have been running for so...so long. Is this what they called Volenfell? It is the only hot place I've heard of...and are you Aldmer friends of the Dwemer?"

These were all she could figure to say. To ask. She had assumed the t had been a dialectical oddity, for what was an Altmer? She knew of Aldmer. She didn't even know what an Ayleid was. She waited a moment for an answer before feeling around her body, realizing she had dropped her dagger in the sand. Hurriedly, she began to feel around the ground for it, worried, seeming almost terrified at the prospect of having lost it, and this is where her situation may become a bit more obvious- the dagger was not buried in the sand, but rather lying just a little bit out of her reach in plain sight.

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Raynila Selehas
Hammerfell

---

"You could do that," the Dunmer said in response to Larus. "Perhaps it'd be useful, perhaps it won't be." She shook her head. She wasn't going to order this man around. It was not within the authority she had - not when it came to matters such as these - and he could prove to be just as much of a liability as he could prove himself to be an asset. "Leyawiin is the furthest south I've been, I suppose. Never been to Elsweyr. Don't want to, either." Again, she shook her head, quietly moving on.

Walking long distances was, by all accounts, extremely boring and was probably one of Raynila's least favorite things to do. It'd have been less of a dreadful experience if the company had been pleasant, but well... Perhaps now was the time to sing one of those old marching songs her fathers had taught her and sang for her? The old man definitely did love his singing. She decided against it. People wouldn't even know who the Armigers she'd be singing about were, anyway, and if they did they probably wouldn't appreciate them as much as she did. A real shame. Raynila figured she'd make a good singer, with some practice - not that she'd had much in the way of that, but well, she had to start some day, right? Taking in a deep breath, she opened her mouth, getting ready to sing...

...only to find herself rather rudely interrupted before she could even start, the Thalmor agent began speaking, addressing some sort of figure that had only just stumbled out of... well, somewhere, anyway. She grunted, visibly annoyed and less visibly, concerned. Unsheathing her blade, the Dunmer approached the two while they were speaking, eyeing them both as she did.

"Speak normally," she told them both. "I don't care if you and your Maormer buddy are cozying up, I just want to be able to know what you're saying. For obvious reasons. Besides, it is rude and unbecoming to speak in... whatever that was. I do not speak with others here in Dunmeris either, now, do I?" She scoffed, growling lowly as she watched the pale Elf drop to the ground, searching for her dagger despite it being close by, as if she were blind, Raynila promptly placing her boot down on the weapon. "S'wits..."

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell?

---

"Dunmeris?" she asked aloud, "Asma? Maor-mer? Dun-mer? Dun-mer epe Dunmeris? A epe FALmeris! Ae FALmer!" she tried to desperately explain, "epe Falmeris, Dwemeris..." she went on, "A boro, hautalle Dwemer buro!" She kept feeling around for her old dagger, her magic dagger, the one she always kept so dear to her heart. It was more an heirloom than anything else, a gift of special significance that she would be devastated to have lost, and so she felt around without any knowledge that the elf had placed her foot upon it. Even worse, without her dagger, how would she release her hands from their binds? Although, she supposed it was only marginally worse: she could function in a bound state, but the sentimental value of the dagger could never be replaced.

Frustrated, sifting through seemingly endless waves of sand, she smashed her hands down on the ground. She had cast a spell, evidently, as the sand she sat on turned to solid ice. This did not help her efforts, it didn't serve her situation, she was just lacking a proper outlet for any venting. She finally found someone she could understand, but she lost her most precious possession, but they seemed friendly, it was a confusing flurry of emotions that she could barely comprehend or process, and so...she let out a little steam by plotting down a patch of ice, said patch already turning to steam itself.

She sighed, and tried once more to explain slowly. "A Lilyarel, ae buro. Tarn...Volenfell?" her explanations may or may not fall of deaf ears, this Dunmer or maybe Maormer seemed to not know her tongue, but that Aldmer would, hopefully, be able to translate. "I am Lilyarel, a slave. I have passed into...Volenfell?" she repeated, once more in Falmeris, and then in Dwemeris, trying both tongues hoping that at least one might be understood by the only friends she had met in so long. She was desperate. She had to be able to communicate. There was no choice, this had to work. If it did not, she did not know what she would do.

[Theodosiya]

Larus Vittorius
Hammerfell



He followed Raynila. Initially, he wonders about the creature that Calia approached. As he close in, he raised one of his eyebrows when he looks at the creature. When he's close enough to identify it, his curiosity turned into shock. From what he could presume, the creature he saw was not a freakish monster he ever fought in Skyrim. No, this one was something else, an ancient breed of Mer he never saw.

Snow Elves, commonly known as Falmer.

"Raynila, i think she's a Snow Elf. Most of their kind degenerates into monstrosites that lives in Dwemer ruins before the Dwemer returns"he spoke. When he heard the Elf speak again, it tooks time, until he could guessed it's language. Ancient, but he could decipher it based on few Aldmer and Dwemer language he learnt.

"She's asking whether she's in Vollenfell. Which is one of Hammerfell name." He listens intently. He takes a deep breath and tries to remember the lesson he received back home. "You're in Vollenfell. But now most people call it Hammerfell. How did a Snow elf like you ends here, in state that doesn't resembles most of your kin?" he asked, in slow but clear Aldmeris.

[Hastiaka]

Captain Calia
Road to Taneth | Hammerfell Province

---

The Dunmer spy approached the two and told them to speak in common tongue. But it was impossible for the Falmer to speak in the common tongue- Calia could only assume that this mer was thousands of years old, predating even the Alessian Empire. Calia was amazed that she had talked and seen a mer that had lived in the bygone days of the Merethic era, days that the Third Aldmeri Dominion seeks to return once again to Tamriel.

''She's not a Maormer, She's a Falmer; a Snow Elf in Imperial dialect.'' Calia corrected the Dunmer.

The Falmer began talking once again and spoke in Falmeris. Calia started deciphering what she said using her knowledge in Ayleidoon then she understood. ''A epe Ayliedoon, A na Altmeri, Arpen kyndaldmeris'' which roughly translates to, ''I speak Ayleidoon, I am an Altmer, noble child/descendant of the Aldmeri'' Calia realized that she was bound and took her glass dagger and cut off the bindings. Calia began to speak again, in a mix of Ayleidoon and Aldmeri; ''I'm an Altmer, pure descendants of the Aldmer. We live in the great islands of the Summerset Isles, leaders of the Third Aldmeri Dominion; an Empire for the reunification of Merkind. What brought you here, Lilyarel? By the way, My name is Calia, Captain of the Thalmor here in Volenfell or Hammerfell.''

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell

---

"I-I'm not sure." she replied, simple in voice, "I-I escaped from my lord, I was free from Mzinchaleft. I ran while my brethren fought our masters. Their cruel machines were destroying our...our people, our crude homes, but I managed to find my way out. Please..." she began to plead, "I know not what your Thalmor are, I know not what an Altmer is, I don't know Ayleid or Dominions, but whatever you are...do not send me back to the Dwemer..."

She shivered, strange considering the heat of the desert, "Even worse, I fear what we may come across in the passage. The Atmorans plague the lands outside, it is for them that we were...brought in." She began to ramble, reciting word-for-word Calcelmo's Stone in her native Falmeris, finishing by stating that it is "a creed we all know by heart." She sighed, "I cannot imagine what those...those beasts are doing to the land now that we are underground. Those cruel giants...better the chains of the Dwemer than the sword of the Atmorans, it is only through the Dwemeri grace that our people, our culture, survived...b-but I hate them!" She let out another frustrated sound.

She suddenly seemed distracted, and began feeling for her knife again, "W-where is my dagger? I just had it! That was my father's, i-it fought alongside the Snow Prince! I-I need to find it! Please, please help me find it!"

[Hastiaka]

Captain Calia
Road to Taneth | Hammerfell Province

---

Calia listened to the rather nervous mer. She listened and learned that she was running away from the Dwemer and the Atmorans. It was a fear that made her realize that the Falmer were a persecuted people, persecution against merkind should be stopped and so, Calia patted the mer's back and tried to calm her. Speaking once again in Ayleidoon she said;

''Calm down okay? I'm here to protect you. The Aldmeri Dominion exists to defend merkind against the atrocities of mankind; we have demonstrated our superiority over man during the Great War, when we sacked their precious Imperial capital as retribution over their race's genocide over the Ayleids, the Falmer, The Sinistral Mer and for the killing spree of Tiber Septim. No man will harm you if you come with me to the city of Taneth. The Dwemer were indeed corrupt, sadistic, but if merkind is to exist we must unite against our common enemy! and so that we can avenge the Snow Prince!''

Calia then tried to help her find the blade and saw a shining piece of metal stepped upon by the Dunmer spy. ''You, Dunmer, The thing you're stepping on, is that it?'' Calia said. Impatient, Calia pushed aside the Dunmer and quickly grabbed the blade. Handing it to the Falmer she said in Aldmeri; ''As long as the Third Aldmeri Dominion exists, you have nothing to fear."

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell

---

She seemed a bit nervous, perhaps not as comforted as it was intended to brush aside the crimes of the Dwemer. At least in her eyes, while the race of Men was a legendary threat, what the Dwemer had done was all too real. "At least someone is stopping the Atmorans from encroaching any further inland. It is good to hear, I suppose, that there is something out there fighting for us. Last I knew, when I left Mzinchaleft, my brethren had started a great revolt against our lords...I wonder if they won? How nice it would be to return to find my mother, my friends, having taken back control of our lives." She sighed, "though, I must admit, I don't understand half of what you speak of- what is a Septim? What Imperial Capital?"

Sheathing her blade in its concealed cover, Lilyarel took a deep breath and felt relief. Feeling the ache of her stomach, having been fed a while back with a portion of most delicious meat, she felt as if she'd exhausted her energy in her escape attempt and subsequent panicking. Reaching into her bag, she pulled from it a couple of glowing mushrooms. She did not know they would glow, nor did she see the brilliant cyan that their glow was composed of. Biting her lip, knowing she was soon to be out of food should she be left to her own devices, she stopped and smiled. She had come across friends, surely ones that would not let her starve! Reaching into her bag, she procured even more mushrooms and held her hands out toward her new friends.

"Would any of you like some? I brought these from Blackreach. They don't taste great, but they're quite filling I assure you! The....the Dwemer fed us these because they were such a low-effort food. They would comprise a full meal with so little harvesting, so a decent harvest would be...enough to get by on." she sighed once more, "I-I know it doesn't sound appetizing, but I used to be a cook! If anyone has some ingredients, I could just...fix it up!"

It never occurred to her that the rest of the party might not know a word of what she was saying, nor did she entirely realize that these very mushrooms had been as much a drug of controlling her people with affliction as they had been a source of food.

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Raynila Selehas
Hammerfell

---

Snow Elf. Right, and I'm a Dweme- Nevermind that. It was actually possible that this woman in front of them was indeed one of the Falmer of old, although this one looked much more like a regular Mer than the deformed monstrosities lurking the depths of Skyrim that she had heard of. It'd explain her blindness, at least - the Falmer of Skyrim were blind, after all. The fact that the Dominion agent was talking to this Falmer in some language she did not understand made things worse. Was it Ayleidoon she was speaking? She'd read some of that once. Not that she'd understood it. But an Altmer, belonging to a group that very much wished to make a return to times long gone by, speaking a language from a time long gone by, cozying up with some mysterious Mer from a time long gone by? Bad. Very bad. Raynila remembered a cult from back in Anvil, and how they had paraded through the streets every midyear, covered in blood, screaming praises to their patron saint as they did. Oh, how she wished that their heroic Whitestrake had not only slaughtered the Ayleid, but their language, too.

Calia pushed her aside. Just like that, to get her next victim her dagger back. To Raynila, the Altmer had at this point very much gone a step too far. She narrowed her eyes as the two continued to converse, the Snow Elf sheathing her dagger, before holding out some glowing, cyan mushrooms. Raynila stepped forwards, taking the mushrooms from the Snow Elf's hand, before shoving them right in Calia's hands. "Your new friend is hungry, Altmer. Get cooking, you Guar-faced fetcher." Right. Altmeris. That was her only shot at this. "Right," she began in rather fluent Altmeris, although speaking slowly, "I've no idea what she's been telling you, and I do not know if you can understand me, but what I do know is that whatever she's told you, she's just like those... Atmorans that sought to kill you all. Except she wants to kill anything that's not a yellow-faced Elf like her. No better than those Dwemer that did... well, all of this to you. Trust me, on my honour as a Dunmer - a Chimer, the people that fought against your Dwemer slave-masters." She gave herself a curt nod, although well aware that the Falmer in front of her wouldn't be able to see the gesture. Grunting lowly, she took a flask from her hip, at least partially filled with sujamma, still.

"Here, drink." She opened her flask, before holding it out in front of the Falmer's mouth, almost pressing it against her lips so close. "It'll fix you right up..."

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell

---

She sat quietly as the situation was explained to her. It was, perhaps, a bit of a shock- her new friend a freakish maniac? It could not be so, surely! Then again, she did not know much of the outside world. It would do her best to consider multiple stances. She gave a quiet, slight nod, to acknowledge what the Chimer had said to her, that she had heard and understood it. It was hard to believe, certainly, but what sort of person would she be if she refused to listen to the second person she'd understood in a whole year? That was around the time she felt a flask against her lip, and then took it in her hand for a quick swig. It was the most delicious drink she'd ever had the pleasure to endure, although perhaps the Dwemeri wines had been able to meet it in her past experiences. Certainly, it was the best thing she'd had in her struggles of constant springwater over the past year.

If this woman was a Chimer, or a Dunmer as she now called herself, then certainly she had to be trusted in some way. Although she'd only ever heard bad of the Chimer, a lifetime of mistreatment had not made Lilyarel particularly trusting of the Dwemer to begin with. Certainly, Lord Gharen didn't seem to think ill of them, but Lady Kamdida was a loudmouth at court. Lilyarel remembered the times she'd had back then, good times even. She remembered one particular incident at which she laughed on the spot due to the sheer comedy she'd found in it.

Having served Lady Kamdida wine the whole night, the noblewoman began a drunken rant. She spoke of the stupid Chimer, confusing terms of endearment with those of aggression, she spoke of the 'even stupider' Ayleids who had allowed a slave rebellion to occur. That particular mention had briefly brought hope to Lilyarel's heart, and surely stories of it might've inspired her kin to revolt those years later. Lady Kamdida went on and on, ranting and rambling half-coherently, and furthermore to a group of Chimer merchants! She was calmly escorted back to her room for the evening, and Lilyarel could only barely conceal her laughter at the time. Good times, good times...

Good times?

She handed the flask back to her Chimer friend. As far as she was concerned, both the 'Thalmor' and the Chimer were her friends until she could become more oriented in the situation.

[Hastiaka]

Captain Calia
Road to Taneth | Hammerfell

---

Raynila handed her the mushrooms, to possibly divert her attention. But Calia, being unable to decline, cooked a meal for the Falmer. ''Fine, you red-eyed hag.'' with that, Calia hurriedly walked towards a small clearing next to the road and bundled together some sticks and ignited it with a fire spell. Calia poked the mushrooms unto the stick and placed it near the small fire until it the color changed. Calia eavesdropped at Raynila's conversation and heard her say she was a ''Chimer'' this greyskin actually had the audacity to call herself a Chimer despite being accursed by their own beloved Daedra.

After cooking, Calia handed Lilyarel the still hot mushrooms and said in Ayleidoon; ''This woman... she's not a Chimer, she's a Dunmer and her skin's grey by the way. They are heretics, they left our homeland Summerset to serve the Daedra! They had forsaken Auri-El for! Do not take her words to the heart, they are feisty predators ready to kill and assassinate without mercy and hesitation Look at the Morag Tong for example, the mother of all assassin guilds! But, like us, they are mer and the Thalmor will give them the chance to convert and return to the Aedra once the Second War with the Empire is over and we should stick together against the Atmorans, we will not give up on them, we will do our best to reconciliation our differences.''

[Theodosiya]

Larus Vittorius
Hammerfell


Larus reached into his bag. He pulled out dried meat and bread. He started to eat while thinking. He then turned to Raynila and Calia, reaching into his bag and take more dried food. "Here, some food. Our destination might be far. Better eat first" he spoke and give it to Raynila. He then kneels and give some of the food to the Snow Elf. "Oh, and for the love of the Nine, or Eight, or whatever the gods or Daedras you serve, don't eat those mushrooms. It might turn you blind, and maybe worse." He looks at everyone else. He looked at the Snow Elf again, and felt part of his heart blown off. He can't imagine what nightmare she suffers.
"Eat this, some bread and dried meat, and don't eat the mushrooms again, if possible. It blinds your eyes, and in long run, might make you less sentient, and reduce you to unspeakable horror" Larus spoke to the Snow Elf in Aldmeris. "Now calm down, and tell me, where did you come from? Are you from one of Dwemer undercities in Skyrim or Hamm-Vollenfell? What did you know about the Dwemer? Or, would you tell us your name? Don't be afraid, you're safe. I'm Larus Vittorius. The Atmorans are part of my ancestry. No, i won't hurt you. Relax."

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Raynila Selehas
Hammerfell

---

It was only after holding out her flask of sujamma that Raynila realised her mistake: she had just given a sizeable portion of what precious little sujamma she had left to a complete stranger. She was handed her flask back, and took a quick swig, herself. At least the Falmer in front of her seemed to have enjoyed the stuff just as much as she did. Perhaps even more. It was something, at least. Surprisingly enough, Calia actually went to go and prepare those glowing mushrooms somehow, but when she returned, she soon started blabbering in Ayleidoon once again, Raynila doing her best to listen in as best as she could, trying to figure out what was being said, narrowing her eyes slightly.

She shook her head, declining Larus' offer. "Not hungry, but thank you." With a sigh, she squatted down next to the Falmer after the Altmer had finished her next tirade. "Now, I'm not sure what -exactly- it is she told you," she spoke in Altmeris again, "but, from what I can piece together, I think she thought it was important to insult my - perfectly healthy, I might add - gray skin, before then rambling on about... Hmm, what was it again?" She raised an eyebrow. "Ah!, I remember!" She gave herself a reaffirming nod. "Something about killing everything that's not her and that doesn't exactly act, look, and think like her. Between you and me, I think she's not all that different form those... Atmorans she hates so much! But shush, don't go telling that around, now. It just... Well, it gets really tiring, doesn't it? 'Be like me, join me, or die!'. Horrible, truly."

Raynila turned her head to look at Larus as she heard him speak, smirking lightly as her gaze went back towards the Falmer in front of her. "Really, now? Did you hear him..? He says that those mushrooms the... Thalmor lady has been preparing for you are toxic, making you blind and making your mind go numb! Well, that's awfully rude of her, now, isn't it..?" She left that question hanging for a bit, before patting the Snow Elf on her shoulder.

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell

---

She seemed overcome for a moment. She felt the mushrooms in her hand, realizing only then the true reason that her people had been fed the mushrooms. She knew that blindness was part of the covenant made with the Dwemer, but she'd never been told exactly how that blindness had come. She'd assumed it was some magic, perhaps, but never that she had been ingesting potent toxins her whole life. Furthermore that she'd been relying on this toxin ever since she'd escaped from her slavery...it all came as a bit of a shock. Certainly, the Aldmeris had been a bit difficult to understand, but she understood enough to reveal her revelation.

Being told she was speaking to an Atmoran, however...that drove her emotions even further into some state of abject horror. Se seemed to freeze up, one of the rare times any of her race would feel so icy. She shivered slightly, seeming to lock up. Being told he meant no harm, and even after he had showed concern and care for her well-being, it did little to quell the stories that had kept her up at night.

However, the reassuring jests of the Chimer brought her out of the seeming trance. She smiled, even giggled a little. Putting the mushrooms gently aside, she took a big, deep breath, and dumped the contents of her bag, entirely consisting of highly toxic mushrooms from Blackreach, out onto the ground. "Don't worry" she replied, "You look just like a Chimer to me." She winked, something oddly instinctual for someone whose eyes appeared cloudier than the sky above Red Mountain.

She turned her head to the Atmoran, and after building up a bit of nerve, tried to answer him slowly in Dwemeris, a language he'd tried to use earlier, "My name is...Lilyarel. I am from Mzinchaleft. I was a slave, but...I ran away about a year ago. I don't know what happened to my kin that were left behind, but I can only hope they won."

[Hastiaka]

Captain Calia
Road to Taneth | Hammerfell

---

Calia gasped as she realized that these mushrooms were the toxic mushrooms the Dwemer forced the Falmer to eat. She immediately took the mushrooms and threw it out far. ''By the Divines, I'm so sorry! I overlooked the thing as I was overwhelmed with rage over this... this traitor. Raynila! It was you in the first place to challenge me into cooking these posions! By the blue divide, how could I have been fooled by this Dunmer? Lilyarel, I'm so sorry for this honest mistake. This Dunmer is an expert in talespinning! Look at these traitors did, they gave the Dwemer god-machine the Numidium to the blood-thirsty tyrant Tiber Septim and used it to destroy our ancient capital, the beautiful Alinor within an hour! Tens of thousands of Altmer died valiantly defending the beautiful city that I'm sure you've heard of.''

Calia sighed and patted the Falmer; ''I'm really sorry. I didn't realize it, I was too overwhelmed! and nervous too!'' she then talked to Raynila.

''Raynila, I think both of us should cool down and help this mer out. Okay? This is getting too far- even by my standards.''

[Theodosiya]

Larus Vittorius
Hammerfell

" Lilyarel. Interesting name" Larus nods. His heart sank when he hear Lilyarel mentions Mzinchaleft. He's been there in an expedition. The horrors...

"Mzinchaleft.... Lilyarel... I..., Excuse me" Larus tried not to cry. He stands and approached Raynila and Calia. "Guys, I have bad news. I don't think i have the heart to explain what happens... With her people... I don't..." he spoke, sighed, and wipe a single tear off his eyes. "Calia, you're right. We can't leave her like this. We must do something to help her. After all sufferings she suffers... Nine forgives me and my ancestors..."

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Raynila Selehas
Hammerfell

---

The Falmer seemed shocked as she realised what exactly those glowing mushrooms she had been eating had been doing to her - and rightly so. Raynila chuckled in response to Lilyarel's remark, shooting a glance at her own, gray skin again. Looks just like a Chimer. She shook her head slowly, snickering still. The Altmer seemed equally, if not even more, shocked by the notice of what the mushrooms she'd been cooking had been doing to the Falmer, having been unaware of it up until now. Of course, neither had she known that herself, but that didn't matter. Not now, anyway.

"Tut-tut." Raynila corrected the Altmer, making sure to indeed speak in Altmeris. "I took the mushrooms from her hand, gave them to you so you could get rid of them, and instructed you to go make food for this poor woman. I didn't tell you to go cook those mushrooms for her, now, did I? No, instead you decided to do all of that on your own, before going on some absolutely outrageous, slanderous tirade against my people, blaming us for something we did not do, while at the same time conveniently forgetting about the thousands of people that suffered when your people, the nation you serve so proudly, decided to kill, burn, and rape their way through Hammerfell and Cyrodiil because not everybody there was yellow with pointy ears." She shook her head, giving another 'tut-tut'. "So let's not get into what we perceive to be the crimes of each other's people, now, shall we? We could argue that for hours while this poor, poor woman..." The Dunmer glanced at Lilyarel. "...would just be sitting here, confused. No, I think it's best we go along with what we were planning to do!"

Nodding, Raynila turned to address the Falmer again, still speaking in Altmeris as before. "Right. Can you walk? Travel along the road? A city to the south of here got attacked, and I've been leading our... little group away from the place and to safety. You can stick with us, I'll help you out." She nodded sagely, despite the Snow Elf's inability to see, before giving her another pat on her shoulder.

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell

---

"Ae" she said, this being the simple word for 'yes'. She nodded briefly, and then took the intricate and beautifully made shaft from her back. It appeared almost as if a mage staff, though if it was, the charge within was long since gone. Using this, she propped herself up as she got back on her own two feet. "I...I have been walking for a year, I think. I can do so a little more." she said with a smile. Planting her staff firmly in the ground, dusting some of the sand off of her beautiful dress, the Falmer woman seemed to have regained some composure. At last, the image of the regal, civilized snow elf was once more seen in the land of Tamriel. Blind though she may be, this was hardly the twisted demons of the caves that many had come to associate with the name 'Falmer'.

"Let us get to this safe haven of yours, and on the way...will anyone tell me what a Septim is?"

[Theodosiya]

Larus Vittorius
Hammerfell

"A septim, is well, a septim. It's a gold coin. Used to exchange stuffs, pay you. It's money. I'll explain it to you as we walked. I might have some biases, thought." Larus explains. Well, for a former slave, Elf, and a Falmer one, she's kinda attractive... What are you thinking Larus? he shakes his head. " Lilyarel, If you wanted to, I could carry you on my back. Or you could ask for something else " he speak again in Aldmeris. "So, now what?" He looks at Raynila and Calia. "Where should we head to. And who should look after her, in case she have, err, womanly needs?"

[New Finnish Republic]

Ragnar Orthbörk

For most of this journey, I had stayed quiet and simply followed along with the group. While I disdained having to travel along with a group composed of Elves, the Dunmer had been correct in saying that there was safety in numbers. Seeing as my shoulder was beginning to ache more and more as the adrenaline began to fade away, I decided I'd rather not take a chance of getting caught alone against a band of thieves. So with much reluctance, I trudged along with everyone else.

What took me by surprise was the appearance of what looked to be an Elf, but not like the ones I had ever seen before...Or at least, I had thought before it was discovered the stranger was none other than a Snow Elf. Upon hearing this, I couldn't help but tense up in preparation to defend myself. I had ran into her kind before in Skyrim, and I knew just how deadly they could be.

However, it appeared that, for at least the time being, I had little to worry about. The Elf seemed to be both starving and dehydrated and her physical appearance betrayed the look of a slave. What was most noticeable, however, was her lack of knowledge in the Common Tongue. While most regions tended to hold onto their native tongues around their own kind, almost everyone was also taught how to speak in the Common. How this Elf did not know was beyond my knowledge.

It seemed like this was a less of a hindrance to the others including, much to my own surprise, the Half-Nord who was able to speak in the Elf's native tongue. The sight of this left a very sour taste in my mouth. Of course he'd speak the tongue of the pointy eared bastards. He is half-Imperial after all. I bet his rich father sent him to be educated in the finer arts just so they could learn how to either swindle the Elves out of their money or know the language of their next conquest targets.

I shook my head as I took the opportunity to sit down and rest. Glancing down to my shoulder, I noticed the hint of blood beginning to seep through my armor. I cursed as I tried to remove my armor without disrupting the wound that was still fresh from my escape. I'd managed to remove the arrow earlier along the way and had bandaged it up to best of my abilities, but it seemed like all the movement hadn't allowed the wound to close up quite yet.

I let out a small sigh as I reached into my bag for more bandages. When I couldn't feel any of the material inside, I cursed out loud. I was out of bandages, and seeing as I had nothing else to wrap up my wound with, it appeared I'd have to look for help elsewhere .

"Where should we head to. And who should look after her, in case she have, err, womanly needs?"

"If you can spare a few garments for that, then you can definitely throw a few bandages my way. That is if you want me to be in any sort of fighting shape when whoever is likely looking for her decide to show up."

I glanced over to the Altmer.

"I can imagine the Dominion supplies their agents very well."

I made no effort to hide the disdain in my voice when I mentioned the name of the Elven nation for which I despised.

[Hastiaka]

Captain Calia
Road to Taneth | Hammerfell

---

Calia ceased from any more ranting and instead focused on helping the poor mer. Larus asked where the group should head out and seeing that the city of Taneth is the nearest settlement to them, Calia suggested to go there. ''Taneth is a safe place. A safe-house is located there for us Thalmor. But if news of the destruction of Rihad had reached the city, then all the Altmer and Bosmer agents and the Redguard mercenaries must've evacuated in accordance to protocol to other operational sites such as Hegathe, Skaven or Sentinel. The only ones left there are the Khajiit staff. Trust me, I don't have any traps or sorts there and plus, the innkeeper Dra'hani is a funny Khajiit.'' she said. ''Let me remind you that the place where were going to is just the secondary headquarters of the Taneth site, I won't divulge the location of the main one.''

Then, Ragnar asked for some bandages after noticing blood. Calia grabbed her kit and pulled some bandages and a potion of healing. She handed it to the man and said; ''You're welcome.''

[The Armed Republic of Dutch Coolness]

Raynila Selehas
Hammerfell

---

Raynila nodded slowly, getting back up on her feet as the Falmer in front of her rose. "Good. Perfect. There'll be plenty of time for sitting comfortably once we're somewhere more... safe. And comfortable, while we're at it." She dusted off the armor and pants covering her knees for a brief moment as she turned around. She gave Larus a brief nod. "Sentinel. That's where I'm headed. And I'm taking her with me." The Dunmer motioned for Lilyarel behind her. "And fear not, I'll be able to take care of any needs that might arise." She smirked lightly at the implications of that, before raising a finger rather accusingly and pointing it in the Altmer's direction.

"And don't think for a moment I'm going to go with you to wherever in Taneth you'll be cozying up. You're a spy. You're a foreign, enemy spy - and it's my job to not trust you and your ilk. It's a safe place for you perhaps, but I'm not going there, knowing that that 'funny' Khajiit of yours will have someone stab me in the back quite literally." She scowled. "Besides, if whoever's behind what happened at Rihad is planning to do more of the sort, Taneth will be next." She shot the Altmer a derisive sneer.

"No, we're going for Sentinel. I don't care what you brave little scribs are going to do - but that's where I'm headed, and I won't take no for an answer. The Falmer is coming with me. Like I said, Taneth won't be a safe place for anyone, let alone her. Blind people don't do the whole 'fleeing cities' thing well." Raynila shot a glance back at the Falmer in question, before speaking in Altmeris. "Ready, then? Let's get going."

[The Ik Ka Ek Akai]

Lilyarel
Volenfell

---

There was some talking. She could not quite understand it, for it was in the tongues of foreigners. Some weird words that sounded like the language of the local region had popped into their already strange speech. Words like 'Taneth'. She could only assume that was a place, for the same reason she called this land 'Volenfell' in Dwemeris rather than it having any proper Falmeris name. Suddenly, she was being spoken to. She was asked if she was ready, and told they should get going.

Ah, but who is in a rush? Can one ever truly be ready? There is so much in the world to experience, and rarely are we ready for such things! They do not come and go as we please, but rather they shall arrive when least expected, and often they leave all too soon. Indeed, one can never truly prepare themselves for the full journey that lies ahead, for not everything can be anticipated- rather, one must prepare themselves not for what lies ahead but instead for the fact that they can not be ready and can never know truly what will happen until it already occurs. It is from this that new experience and new wisdom is birthed, and so perpetuates the eternal cycle of knowledge as we take our own personal adventures with each passing day.

"Alright" she said, and began to walk.

[Theodosiya]

Larus Vittorius
Hammerfell


Larus looked at Ragnar. He then pulled some bandages, potion and powdered herbs out of his bag. "It might be painful. Let me see your wound" Larus stand next to Ragnar, and looked at his bandage. "Could be worse. Not infected yet. I'll try to cure it. Have some skills in healing. Comes in handy when you adventure." He carefully opened it. "You're lucky. No important blood vessels in the way. Gonna be painful, but effective" Larus cut parts of the bandages. He put some of the powdered herbs on it, and pour a bit of the healing potion. After removing the bandages, he pressed the new bandage on it, applying healing spell too and tied it as firmly as he could, to prevent bleeding. "Drink this potion too" he gave the potion bottle to Ragnar