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talldarkandroguesome · 4 years

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18th of Last Seed, Tirdas

Tel and I spent a rather lazy day around the inn. Well, after Tel ran around and did their morning exercises. I did my morning prayers.

We had a good meal and I insisted that Tel got dressed up nicely. I slipped some new paint brushes and pigments into their set while they went out for their run. I had purchased them while they were forced to try on some doublets yesterday evening.

After we were dressed in finery I took Tel around a tour of the city, promising a wonderful spot for them to paint. The cliffs to the Western side of the city look out over the sea, with blue sand crabs and ships pulling into the sea. Netches float gracefully over the hills that face the fortified walls of the city. Then the black volcanic slopes of the mountains rise further west into the clouds. It is a common spot for young lovers to share a romantic sunset on account of the view. So I thought it a perfect spot for Tel to spend the afternoon and be far away from my personal errand.

We took the short ride to the cliff, passing a small herd of wild guar along the way. We had started to set up when I made a remark that I had neglected to bring along a proper meal. So I told Tel to wait there and took the carriage back into town, tipping the driver well. I told him it would take me a while to get what I needed for a meal, but she insisted that should I want a ride back, she would provide one.

So I slipped into the baker’s, perused their goods and then slipped out the sidedoor when they were helping another customer. I had overheard a complaint by Hectur of a mer named Naril, who had been caught trying to steal from Hectur. And when he had been banned from the Fish Stink, he had turned to bribing people to steal the rare bottles that Hectur often risked not just his money, but sometimes his life to procure. And with his husband busy fighting for the Pact, he cannot go on those journeys, so the rare bottles are all the more precious.

I had been told by a regular named Beek-Ja that Naril is often found skulking around the Rededication Shrine. So I had a few good drinks from my flask of strong brandy, then stumbled over towards the shrine.

I found a mer, generally fitting Naril’s description leaning back against a lamppost and looking very shifty. Something about him just felt like no one else could possibly be such a shady character.

After a while I pretended that my flask had drained and I sighed and muttered just audibly enough that I should consider going back to the tavern.

Suddenly, the mer leaned forward with a smile and greeted me. I greeted him back. He asked me if I was looking for work. I made a sound of agreement and he told me how lucky we were, for he had a business deal. He needed something procured. I told him that if the coin was good, I would be ready to do just about anything so I could pay for a bottle and a room for the day.

That made him smile. He told me that he was looking to procure a certain bottle from the tavern by the docks. He described it and assured me that he had tried many times to purchase the bottle for a client, but that the barkeep would not sell. He seemed to insinuate that there was something more personal in the refusal, but gave me the specifics of what he was looking for.

He even gave me a fake bottle to sway and assured me that there was booze in it and that the wine would only be good if it could be drunk. And besides, he said, such a brute like that would not know the difference between good wine and poor.

I made a note of the fact that he seemed to think that Hectur, who traveled far and wide to sample and procure rare beverages in his spare time, would not know a good bottle, simply because he was a Nord. Such ignorance. This was definitely the proper offering to my Prince.

He told me to bring it back to him there when I was done. I told him that someone might see and suggested that we meet over in one of the homes that was abandoned and half burned down. I chose the one that is close to the cliff edge and amongst several other burnt out buildings abandoned by their owners until limber is shipped in for the rebuilding.

Naril agreed, thanking me for my discretion. I left him at once and headed down to the Fish Stink, just so that my intent would seem to be clear to him if he followed.

I leaned over the bar while Hectur was helping another customer and whispered to him that I had found that Naril was trying to swap a fake bottle for the real, so that he could make sure to keep it more secure. We looked at the two bottles and the fake was fairly similar. I polished it up and then took the ribbon for the real bottle and swapped it with that of the fake, with Hectur’s permission. I told him that I would bring him the fake bottle like this and hopefully whoever it was trying to get Naril to steal it for them, would find Naril to be making forgeries and would teach him a lesson.

Hectur told me to come back anytime and I would have a bed on the house. I told him that I did my best to serve the people of Davon’s Watch. Particularly those who are handsome, provide good hospitality, and put on the best evening of entertainment in the city. He clapped me on the shoulder with a heavy hand and told me to save the gilded words for his patrons. We laughed and I headed to the meeting point.

Naril’s face lit up when he saw me approaching. I showed the bottle and he scrutinized it. A bit of shine, the correction of the label’s writing, and the ribbon was enough for him to reach for his coin purse.

He did not even know what hit him when I teleported behind him and drew my blade across his throat, spilling his blood on the ground. I caught the bottle before it shattered so that I could place that where I wanted.

I let him fall forward and then put a boot on his back so he could not spray my clothing with blood. Once he had been reduced to a burble and stopped trying to crawl forward, I set out three innocuous wooden cups, opened the bottle and poured them all full of the wine. I drank some from all of them so that the stains would show someone had used them. One more than the others which I sipped from. Then I summoned my shades to go running out the door through the blood in the opposite direction of where I was heading, letting a train be as it was.

I summoned my flames to burn off any last traces of blood and stopped at the shop down on the corner that sells the most amazing Shadowfen styled grilled corn and got a few ears of their blue and red corns along with their fish and bean cakes. Then I went to the shop next door to get some kwama cuttle jellies with steamed ginko nuts. I went to the shop across the street for some ash yam dumplings of a few varieties, including the Indoril dumplings with stewed lotus and guar. Finally, I reentered the bakery and got a nice selection of Nord bread and spiced vegetable spread. I came back out and the carriage driver waived me down. I was glad that the bread was still hot so that there was a plausible notion that I had to reenter the bakery once the variety I liked was done baking.

I returned to Tel and the driver helped hand down the dishes she had so carefully packed to make sure they had not toppled on the journey. I was grateful and tipped her again for her help, in addition to the fee. I assume that she saw our clothing and knew the fare would be good. It was certainly worth her while. I make sure to pay people well for their services, particularly jobs so often dismissed by those of my status. If she sought to benefit from that, so be it.

Tel took a break from their painting to share lunch with me. It was more than the both of us could eat on our own, but I had already planned to donate the rest to the Temple’s beggar fund. Tel clearly was overwhelmed by the whole thing, they had that mixed expression of thankful and anxious. Not sure what kindness worries Tel so. The carriage driver was lingering around, so I invited her to take food back to her family and instructed her to take whatever she did not take to the Temple and that I would send coin for her for doing the errand if she completed it.

That seemed to calm Tel someone. And I was honestly most pleased to be without anyone hanging around and watching us. I spoke to Tel about Davon’s Watch’s history as they painted. Then I sang songs until the day began to cool and dusk started to creep over the land.

As the sun began to sink, another couple came to watch. We did not speak to them, but we all enjoyed the beautiful colors of Azura’s blessing. When the night finally came, we could hear the couple enjoying one another’s company even with no light save the stars. With both moons being new, there was more light coming from the city than the sky. All around us, torchbugs began their blinking dance, trying to mirror the spread of stars in the sky. It was cool enough that the breeze was almost chilly. So I moved close to Tel to share our own intimacy.

Of course Tel refused to do more until we heard the couple heading back to town, their voices retreated into the night.

#ESO #TES #Dunmer #RP #Elder Scrolls Online #The Elder Scrolls

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