Peik

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

And thus begins Sadri's journey as that one guy who cherry taps people back from death with Heal Minor Wounds.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

A collab post between @gcold and @Peik

‘’Funny you said that, I thought I’d have to ask really nicely to get that offer.’’ Sadri smiled, if only for a second, and then leaned on a crate that was about the height of his shoulder. ‘’You will be leading the assault on the Forsworn flank. I wanted to settle on some things before our assault, prepare.’’ Sadri unsheathed his sword and pretended to examine it slowly so that Edith could see it, and deduce its properties. ‘’This here, it’s quite the weighty blade. Suited for lopping heads off.’’ Sadri sheathed it again with a fancy move, and continued. ‘’Eh, I’ll cut to the chase. I don’t think it will do much good in a mining tunnel. Things are bound to be cramped in there, not very good for swinging. I was wondering if you had something better suited for thrusting.’’ Sadri paused. ‘’I was also wondering whether you had a spare chainmail coat, or anything of the sort. I don’t plan to take this inside with me,’’ Sadri patted the collar of his padded coat to attract Edith’s attention to it, and continued. ‘’It’s too bulky. In case we have to do some potholing. The rest of my armor is fine, but I figured that some more would definitely help. Now, I’m afraid I don’t have much money to pay for all I’m asking – so I was wondering if you could simply loan them to me, for just the assault.’’

"What can I say, I read minds." Edith joked, something Ashav would never do. "Not trully, I am not one of them mages from Winterhold. But still, looks like you have a decent weapon already." She commented on the Sadri's weapon. The Dunmer made an elaborate move sheathing it, which elicited a small grin from her. "Though you are correct, it would be less worthy for stabbing." Finally, someone had the common sense of protecting themselves, unlike a certain Imperial brute. She walked around Sadri when he brought attention to his coat. The first impression of it wasn't too bad; it would stop a limited amount of harm. But since no one else wants she steel handiwork, might as well put it to good use rather then letting it rust. "Just cleaned up a set of chain mail earlier, roughly your size but probably going to need tightening around the waist." She pondered, payment in addition to logistics. To be fair, Edith prides herself an honest woman, so after eying the strange gadgets Sadri possessed, she couldn't not find one suitable payment. "You could keep them, but only if you agreed to help me." She started, mind already returning to the arcane charges and glanced at Sadri's hand stump. "You must be familiar with enchantments, yes? How about aiding me in obtaining charged souls gems?"

Sadri considered himself lucky to be offered such a nice and protective gift in his old age (despite being relatively young for a Mer, Sadri considered himself to be old, even though he probably had about two hundred years in front of him so long as he didn’t screw things up), and smirked for a moment, forcing a breath from his nostrils to voice something resembling a laugh. But the Quartermaster’s counteroffer put Sadri in a bad position. He didn’t know how to soul trap. ‘’I guess it’s time to educate this fine lady on how enchanting works,’’ Sadri thought to himself as he stopped leaning and flexed his facial muscles for a second, preparing himself for the talk ahead and thinking of his wording.

‘’I suppose this,’’ Sadri said as he raised his stump and flexed the invisible muscles where his wrist once would have been, ‘’is why you’re asking me to fill up soul gems. I would be willing, though there’s a catch.’’ Sadri scratched his hair with his phantom hand and continued. ‘’You see, you can’t enchant anything without a soul gem, and a soul gem doesn’t work without… well, souls. But the ability to ‘trap souls’, that’s not a part of the school of enchanting. It’s something that Mysticism claims to itself. And the best my magic can do is to cure my headache. I usually buy pre-charged gems and then apply my own enchantments.’’

Sadri didn’t want to shoot down her offer completely, though, so carried on in a lighter note. ‘’I could, of course, look for someone who can actually cast the soul trap spell. And maybe help whoever that is fill those charges of yours.’’ Sadri stopped to think. There was no doubt that there were people more skilled in magic than him. ‘’Maybe that Altmer can do the job. What do you say? Maybe that Redguard could too.’’ He paused again. ‘’Worst case, I could just give you the soul gem for this thing, even though it’d probably fill only one of the charges. I’m used to having just one arm, though I reckon it’d diminish my effectiveness in the upcoming attack.’’ Sadri didn’t actually want those charges primed, as after all, an explosion underground could be very bad business, but he didn’t want to look completely contrarian and lose his chances of getting that hauberk. ‘’Should’ve bought that Redguard plated mail when you had the chance,’’ his grumpier side mused in his mind.

Edith's eyes narrowed at Sadri's explanation of soul gems. Her prior enthusiasm now slightly diminished, and it looks like this is not the spot for what Imperials called "one-stop-shopping". She grumbled under her breath, as much as she had worked through these days, she sincerely hoped they would finally receive the proper supplies they need. But lo and behold, only half of these charges arrived, and arrived without primers. The contemplation that was plain on Sadri's skin changed her mind just enough; one soul gem is not exactly worth losing his magical appendage.

"I see," She nodded, eyes temporarily zoning out as she mulled over what she just heard. “Well, I believe the High Elf, Keegan, is on his way out to scout. I shall visit the Redguard then, wait.” She pointed to Sadri. “We shall visit him. He might need your help.” Having made up her mind, Edith decided on Sadri assisting Jonimir as suitable payment.

Beside official business, she also caught on the Dunmer mumbling to himself. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, that would be her comrades hiding shady worries. “Anything else that concerns you?” Edith inquired, maintaining the most patient tone possible. He better spit it out, she thought to herself, there are still work to be done.

‘’It’s not a concern, I’m just complaining to myself. In the past I had a chance to get a suit of armor, of Redguard make. It was an excellent piece, mail reinforced with steel plates ‘sewn’ into the mail. But I didn’t, and now I have to ask for spare armor. I can’t say I like that,’’ Sadri mused. Perhaps in the future when he had more money, he could stumble across a similar piece in Hammerfell. But Anu knows where life leads you, after all – so Sadri decided not to linger on his past regrets, and ask about something.

‘’Although I am wondering one thing – just how effective are those charges? I’ve seen military mining go very awry in the past because of awry methods, and I don’t think you would want to be buried alive underneath the soil just to get through a simple barrier. I sure don't.’’

“A good set of armor is hard to come by, that much I do know.” Edith concurred and nodded. At the mention of the charges, and their effectiveness, Edith first raised an eyebrow but then turned it down to a sigh. “Ashav assured us that the mages of Winterhold tested them before they were sent. Of course, I think they are much more effective than pickaxes.” Edith said, rubbing her hands together to keep them warm. “Truth be told, I have doubts about the risks too. But I am not an expert on this matter; we shall only see when the time comes.”

“Let's go find Jonimir now,” She nudged to the tent opening. “Perhaps he will know more.”

Wishing to get the coat of chainmail without any problems, Sadri squeezed himself out of the tent opening and walked alongside the quartermaster towards Jonimir's tent, hoping to find the mage and get him to fill some gems.

Staring Back with Chrome Eyes [Vampire Hunting/Cyberpunk]

-deleted-

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

<Snipped quote by Mortarion>

We're currently waiting for a collab between @Leidenschaft @Macabrefox @middleearthroze. And I'm also waiting for @peik's response in another collab. For your intro, you can include any of Lucex, Tennant and Orakh, since they're all NPCs now. As I said before, don't worry about posting speed. As long as you're letting us know, it's fine if you take a bit longer.

I'll be starting the scouting mission in a bit, and the attack right after.

@gcold

My response's up.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

I personally would like to see the Dumhvuud having to clench a bit, if you know what I mean.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

I prefer my posts longer, but eh, figured it's just an intermission.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

Sadri, like most of the other mercenaries, hated Dumhvuud’s guts. Bastard just had to go around and put people off, right? He would get back at him, but unfortunately, he was in a mercenary group, and had a contract to uphold. And said contract kept him from accidentally stabbing him during the thick of combat, from conveniently forgetting the guy about to stab him, and from accidentally burning his tent down or from accidentally pissing all over his bed while he was away and burning his tent down at night. ‘’Once the job’s done,’’ he thought to himself, trying to calm down his bad side. Sadri did not like the fact that he had principles. Without them, he probably would’ve been in a much better position. He envied people who could forget their oaths. He also absolutely hated them. Such is obsession – like having a crush on that girl who rejected you.

But Sadri had much bigger problems. Ashav had chosen him alongside others to be part of the flanking group in the assault that was to come in about four hours. His group was to go through an abandoned tunnel – obviously cramped quarters. He had fought in cramped quarters before, back when he was in Valenwood, and by Anu, he had hated every single second of it. Swinging anything would be almost impossible, and then there was the fact that the damn thing could come down on you. As if Ashav had wanted this to happen, his group was armed with magical charges. He wasn’t actively bothered, his professionalism was too strong to let that happen, but nonetheless, tunnel rat duty was one duty he didn’t like.

At least he wouldn’t have to push that ram prepared for the Forsworn defenses, and he decided to console himself with that. Sure, caves were shitty, but having to push that thing was probably even shittier. ‘’Enough pondering,’’ he said to himself. He had preparation to do for the upcoming attack. Perhaps talk with some of his to-be-comrades about tactics. Perhaps offer them some flin to better their relationship. They had four hours. Sadri felt like he had to do something, and for once, smoking his pipe to spend time didn't come off as very productive.

He went over his belongings to better prepare for the upcoming attack. His padded coat, while flexible, was too bulky, and he didn’t want it in the way in case they had to spelunk. ‘’I should remove it before we go, and put on the rest,’’ he made a mental note, and hoped that the rest of his armor could protect him. Sadri knew he’d be pissed off if he lost another arm. The damn prosthetic was expensive. You could buy an ebony sword with that amount of Septims, and Sadri would rather not beg his parents for money again. Speaking of his parents, he made a mental note to send them a letter about his life and how he's faring. Ask about their situation. Perhaps tell them he met the Nerevarine. That could lighten their mood.

‘’Where’s that woman when you need her?’’ Sadri left his spot and began walking through the camp, looking for Edith. He could talk tactics, learn details, in other words prepare – and perhaps even get himself some better toys through clever wordplay. Maybe a sword better suited for thrusting, or some chainmail.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

I'll get a post up by the weekend. Busy week.

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

The collab on the pad is now non-canon and will be erased and discarded. The fight can come up in posts but only vague enough for people to add onto in their own remarks, but that is it. In full and as an event in our character's memories, it will stay in the endless depths beyond where the eye dares to see and the lip quivers and spits in madness. A timeskip, they call it.

@Leidenschaft

rip

The Elder Scrolls: Fruits of Contention - Chapter 1 (Completed)

Well, here's my intro to our patrol.