Boots on the Ground Entry One

Entry One: The Wailing Prison and Between

A very tall person, compared to me, and larger in every dimension. Blond, blue eyed, with a scarred face, and she spoke in a language I understood but with an accent that a word came from the fog assigning ‘Nord’ to it. She spoke calling me ‘Vestige’ and of escape. A ghostly visage appeared then, old, old, compared to me, though of nearly the same size; long hair, no beard, and strange eyes, also dressed in rags, as was the Nord and I. It spoke as well, as well as also referring to me as Vestige, and the Nord as Lyris. It bade us to rescue him. Lyris called him Prophet. She assumed I was to aid her on that quest and subsequently broke the lock on the cell door. Escape sounded good to me, though I didn’t know where from, or where to, and helping her at least gave me a direction and a purpose, something that in some ways comforted me.

Exiting the cell, Lyris directed me to a body on the floor. A name from the fog assigned Daedra to it, and on it I found a two-handed sword, which with Lyris bade me to pick up and arm myself. The sword felt familiar to me as if I had handled one before, though not altogether comfortable in my hands. This gave me the feeling that it was not my weapon of choice but it would do for the moment, or until I could find one that suited me better. As I waved it about getting a feel for it I took the time to question my companion.

Loath to waste time on conversation and to share any specifics about herself, Lyris Titanborn nonetheless did impart some information. The first bit was unsettling. I was … dead. I felt pretty lively for a dead person, but I chose not to quibble about the facts. I was in a place called “The Wailing Prison” in a land called “Cold Harbor”, though she would not commit to calling it a place in the world, Tamriel. It was not ‘heaven’, and she would not commit to ‘hell’ either, but it was a place a Daedric Prince called Molag Bal put the soulless dead he collected. According to her I owed my present state to one called Mannimarco. I noted the name as I felt that person deserved to have the favor returned. Urging us onward and unwilling to divulge any more information, I followed Lyris toward a destination I found on my map, which seemed to be of the same nature as my backpack, updated magically, accessible at will, and safely gone elsewhere when I no longer wanted it.

We fought more Daedra, some undead in the form of skeletons and some sort of zombies, which we handled with little difficulty. At one point I got an odd feeling, a tingle, in the back of my mind. I stopped and investigated this. Again, I focused my will, and in my mind another page revealed itself. I was offered the opportunity to increase one of my attributes; Magicka, Health, or Stamina. Feeling neither particularly weak nor tired, I chose Magicka. Then a great deal more was revealed to me. I was, in fact, a Dragonknight with a great deal of possible skill choices available to me. I will not trouble the reader with the entire list, but chose from the listing a magical spell that would slam an enemy to the ground with a magical fist. Two-handed weapons were not my weapon of choice, and I felt no particular need as yet to cast defensive a protection spell or one to put a spell on my weapon, some of my other choices. I felt a shiver, but I recognized the spell as an option to attacking with the two-hander. With a shrug, I continued on following Lyris using both the sword and my new ability to wade through the enemies.

Lyris insisted that we find this ‘eye’ thing. My map showed a few possible locations and I arbitrarily chose one nearby. A few more enemies defeated and I could see it. I was urged to approach it cautiously, crouching to use what shadow and environment I could to use stealth to approach it. It took little to destroy the eye. Lyris then urged us to the door to the Prophet’s prison. It was magically warded and locked. After a short discussion Lyris thought one known as Cadwell might have information that could guide us around that obstacle. We found Cadwell in a small camp nearby surrounded by other soul shriven. From the tune he was singing it was clear that he was a madman, however seeming quite lucid if out of touch with the current reality, and he provided information about how to get around a back way to the Prophet’s prison. I won’t add here the litany of destruction of various beings on our trip, however I would point out that along the way; I also looted all I could both from those I defeated as well as any container I could find. If I could not immediately make use of the loot I found, some, I thought, might gain me some coin if and when I got someplace to sell it.

Lyris and I made it, after some fights, twists, and turns, to the Prophet’s prison. Lyris insisted that the only way to free him was for her to take his place. I wasn’t sure that this was a good trade, as Lyris had at least been a capable companion, where the doddering old blind man didn’t have much promise in battle. Against my misgivings the trade was made. One thing the Prophet offered that Lyris had not was a way out of the prison and back to Tamriel. It took a little doing, the absorbing of a sky shard, and a prayer to Akatosh, but an apparent way back to the ‘real’ world presented itself. Having been left no other option, I took it.

Between Worlds

I was no longer where I was, and not yet where I would be. I was on a comfortable bed, nude, with another equally nude woman, a Bosmer elf, and we were quite comfortably snuggled. She was much smaller than I in every dimension, with a red cornrowed Mohawk down the back of her neck and past her shoulders. Her eyes were a beautiful flashing green and the bow of her lips turned up in a smile. Her small hand caressed my face, those lips found mine in a gentle but deep kiss, and then she spoke.

“Welcome, my sister, welcome to Forest’s Angels and especially to Savage Hearts.” She said. Another strange thing in a day of strange things. She felt good, felt right, snuggled in my arms, and I felt a warmth in my heart and soul as well as my loins. But questions begged to be asked.

“Who are you and what are these things of which you speak?” I asked. She giggled and kissed me again before answering.

“Forest’s Angels are all the creations of Forest, there are twelve of us now, with your addition, and there will be no more. I am Penny Wyse, the First and eldest among us. Forest is our Creator and The One That Guides. We will speak no more of that. We share between the twelve of us a bank and an array of Guilds, the foremost of which is the Savage Hearts, the others merely an association through which we may buy and sell things. Through the bank the Angels may share gold and other wealth between the sisters, and through the Savage Hearts and other guilds, with others. In our Sisterhood, we provide for the needs of all of us, gold, materials, armor, weapons, and any other material need that arises. If we cannot, for some reason, one of the guild members of Savage Hearts will, I’m sure, or they may be purchased from the Guild Stores. Also you benefit from our experience with Champion Points which can improve the effectiveness of your own abilities. The most important things the guild Savage Hearts supplies though is a social network, physical aid, and company. This is only time we shall meet, dear one, as while one of us touches Tamriel, the others must dream. If you ask, others in the guild will from time to time come to help you or to just spend time with you.”

“That is a lot to digest.” I said. She nuzzled into my neck, quite happy to give me the time to think about those things, stroking my back. Apparently I would arrive in the world alone but not totally penniless though without Penny. And not completely alone, I supposed, with guild members willing to help. It made me sad that some might well not have those things, and I made a vow to myself to help those in need, given I had the wherewithal to do so. At the same time, for the sake of my own integrity, I would not make extraordinary demands of my Sisters either, or on that which they provided. I said as much to Penny. She giggled into my neck, kissed it, and looked up at me.

“Don’t be silly, Dear One. Take and use any and all that you need and want. All we ask is that you return all you can, as you can. Go everywhere, do everything, and enjoy your life. That is all you’ll owe us or Forest. But,” she chuckled a bit deviously, “since you are here, and I am here …”

Penny kissed me passionately. I returned as good as I got but then she started kissing down my jaw, to my neck, then my shoulders. Penny shifted a bit and started working lower and I fully understood where she apparently intended to go. I was all for that and began stoking the compact little body …

ForestLyle