Morrowind Role Play

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"He rubbed me the wrong way," Astarel admitted, "But that's probably a Telvanni thing more than anything else, and he certainly did seem to know what he was talking about. I could probably take care of any magicka requirements, but I'm not familiar with Vvardenfell," she said, the sparkle in her eyes indicating that she planned to rectify this ignorance as soon as possible by asking as many questions as she possibly could.

"Nothing says we can't investigate the Dwemer; I'm certainly curious about them, and you may be able to find what you were looking for as well," she added with a nod to Aurianne. "Furthermore, the Telvanni have the resources to acquire information, even though from what I hear, they don't always care about what's going on outside their walls enough to use it. If we scratch his back, maybe he'll scratch ours."

She dropped her pack on the floor with a thump. "I think we should go by the Mage's Guild first. I can ask them about the local Telvanni and see if they've heard of this one, that way we might have some leverage when bargaining with him, or at least not be caught unprepared..."

 

Lander left the south wall, sighing with disapointment. The Thieves had known nothing he hadn't know himself, meaning he would have to look elsewhere. Still, a problem for another time.

He headed to the Eight Plates, pasing through the merchants area on the way. Inquiring for a room, Lander saw a few glares thrown his way, which was, considering that Balmora was a Hlaalu town, expected. At least the Proprietor was willing to take gold from anyone who could pay.

"I may be in and out for several days, so I'll pay for 4 upfront and you can bill me for any others if I stay longer. Will that work out?"
"That should be fine." Replied the Proprietor. "I will keep anything you leave in the room if you can't pay though."
"Agreed."

Lander accepted the key, deposited a small bag of belongings in a draw in his room, and left. He headed south because unless something else came up, his next stop was Fort Moonmoth.

 

They walked down the stairs to the river and crossed to the westside. As they walked up the hill to the commercial they saw the Telvanni they had met at the South Wall.

"Asta, I think he would respond better to you than Aurianne or me."

 

Astarel raised an eyebrow at Chirra. "Me? I mean, I know we'll have at least one grand passion in our lives in common given we're both mages, but according to my tutor the Mage's Guild and the Telvanni don't tend to see eye-to-eye. Still, I'm willing to try, but I think it would be best if you two were both there and prepared to intervene if necessary - we ought to make it clear that we're not directly representing Guild interests at least."

 

"Of course we'll be there. Just remember he's older and more experienced than you are. Be careful what information you give him."

[ May 11, 2007, 14:20: Message edited by: Nakia ]

 

Astarel grinned. "Thanks for the warning. I've seen enough hubris on Summurset Isle to know how hard it bites. Hopefully he'll underestimate me, though, rather than the other way around."

She tilted her head, widened her eyes, and exclaimed: "I was told the Dwemer were elves, but they vanished! It's such a mystery! What do you think we'll se in their ruins? Oh, do you have any guess why it happened? Vvardenfell is such a mysterious place!" She winked at Chirra.

 

"Oh, come on now, Chirra, stop being so suspicious." Aurianne ruffled the fur on top of Chirra's head with a smile. "He doesn't seem like a usual Telvanni: all scowls and 'go away'. I bet if we tell him what we know, he'll do the same."

[ May 11, 2007, 22:59: Message edited by: Felinoid ]

 

After renting a room for the night at the South Wall, Davion decided to explore the town a bit. He checked out the various stores around town, before heading to the Fighters Guild to join up. Unfortunately the only mission available to him at the time was a rat-killing one, so he decided to check back later.

As he was leaving the Guild, he saw a Khajiit and an Altmer chatting to each other, and couldn't help but notice how odd they looked together...then saw the Telvanni they seemed to be talking about. His fists suddenly clenched tightly, and he narrowed his eyes. Stalking off in the direction of the Silt Strider, muttering under his breath, he didn't even notice the Altmer until he bumped into her. Forgetting why he was angry, he stammered, "Oh, I'm so sorry, ma'am, are you alright?"

 

Astarel laughed. "I'm a ma'am now?" She'd been told that some other races had trouble discerning ages among the elves, but she never failed to find it amusing. Or perhaps he's just being polite, she considered.

"Don't worry about it, though, really. You should be more careful, though, you might hurt yourself. Or at least that's what people tell me when I'm too busy looking at all the interesting things around me to pay any attention to where I'm going."

 

Chirra's ears twitched forward, "The warrior eyes his prey and sees not the trap beneath his feet. Careful stranger, even with the blight gone Vvardenfell is dangerous but perhaps you know that already. Good hunting to you."

She then turned her attention back to the Telvanni who was her current prey though the trophy she sought was information.

 

"Erm...okay," Davion replied, looking nonplussed. He glanced in the direction of the Telvanni before asking, "What are you going to do when he turns around and sees us staring at him like he's on a theatre stage?"

 

Lander turned around, and saw the trio from the South Wall, along with a Redguard he didn't know.
He smiled slightly, and guessed they had come to talk to him, most likely to get information. Who knew, this might just save him the trip to the Fort.
He walked over.

"Hello again. I will guess you've considered my offer but before we get down to business, I think introductions are in order.
I am Lander Zef'it, mage and Telvanni Lawman. Professional Collector of magical trinkets and curiosities. And you would be...?"

 

Astarel mentally steeled herself. Right, Chirra thinks I should do this, and her reasons did seem sound, she thought.

"I'm Astarel Iren," she said, choosing not to mention her Guild affiliation yet, "This is Chirra," she nodded towards the Khajiit, "And that's Aurianne. We just bumped into this gentleman," she indicated the Redguard. "And yes, actually, we were hoping to speak to you, Lawman Lander. We're interested in investigating the Dwemer ruins."

 

Davion looks cooly at Lander before adding, "The name's Davion."

Turning to Astarel, he asked, "You're going to be checking out some ruins as well, huh? I'm hoping to see some of that Dwemer armor I've heard so much about."

 

Astarel smiled at Davion. "Well, if the others have no problem, then the more the merrier! Lawman Lander informed us earlier that he knows the location of a ruin which hasn't already been cleaned out. You never know what's down there besides the artifacts..." Her eyes glazed a little as her imagination launched off of its own accord. "So much to be learned!"

 

Aurianne scowls at Davion and pokes him in the chest to get his attention. Indicating her left arm, she explains, "If ye want ta look, by all means take a gander, but ye best not have any ideas about scavenging any Dwemer armor a-fore I have a chance at it."

In a flash, her entire demeanor changes as Aurianne flashes a wink at the Redguard. "Hehe, hope I didn't scare you there. Dwemer artifacts, particularly this beautiful armor they fashioned, are a passion of mine. Heck, that's why I'm here in the first place."

 

Davion looks at the armor on Aurianne's arm with something approaching wonder in his eyes. "Ooh, is this some Dwemer armor? It's not at all what I expected. I was thinking it would look all big and spiky..."

He finishes his cursory examination, then straightens up and says, "I would love to join you, and don't worry. I have no intention of stealing anything."

 

Lander raised an eyebrow at Astarel's speech. It was somewhat more excited then he had imagined High Elves could be.

"Ah, I believe what I said is that most of the Dwemer ruins in the area are cleaned out. There are some that no one has visited however they are... difficult to get to. Most of them are located in the center of the Red Mountian area, which is still as dangrous place as you can get in Morrowind dispite the actions of the Nerevarine.

If you'r still set on it, I'll come with you. But first I have to visit the local Imperial Fort."

Lander made a mythic pass and word, Marking the ground just inside the city archway.

"I will be back inside of 3 hours if you want my assistance."

With that he turned around and left the city. This was sounding more and more like a good idear. He'd be willing to give his right eye to see where Keening had been kept in the southen Dwemer stronghold.

 

"Well..." Astarel stared at Lander's swiftly retreating back. "That certainly does qualify as abrupt. Red Mountain...didn't there use to be some kind of barrier around that, and then there was some kind of mess with Nerevar come again? I'm not overly familiar with the circumstances, but I'm guessing it'd help if we pooled our information if that's where we're heading..."

 

"Red Mountain? That's about the last place we should go looking for Dwemer artifacts. Bacola told me the Nerevarine cleaned out those citadels as part of his campaign against the Sixth House. The Telvanni is lying to us..." Aurianne paused, looking perplexed. "...And yet, he was telling the truth about it still being the most dangerous area on Vvardenfell. Which doesn't make sense now that the Sixth House is gone..."

Another pause, and it seemed almost to those watching as if some internal battle was being played out as Aurianne squinted, her eyes tracking back and forth across the ground. Then suddenly she squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head violently. When her eyes opened again, the confusion in them was plain. "He's trying to bring us there for some other reason, but why?"