Just posting because I wrote a fair bit.
I can't remember when so the publish date is just a guess.
I don't believe it. From being the finest upcoming archer in the Valenwood Guard to this, stuck in an Imperial cell for some goddamn Imperial bastard. Ok technically I committed a crime.
Hearthfire 19th, 3E 433:
After I declined Jauffre's offer to join the Blades Vilja and I rode in silence to Bruma. Thankfully the story of Kvatch hadn't spread here yet so nobody recognized my cuirass. We went to stay in the Mages Guild overnight and I quickly changed into simple clothing so no one else in the Guild would get any ideas. Vilja went off chatting to J'Skarr while I paused and looked over Volanaro's sleeping body for a few moments. He woke when I brushed my hair away from his face and immediately pulled me down in giggles. X was out doing some pompous duties to the Countess for the day so we made, ah, ample use of her spacious double-sized bedroom... At Volanaro's insistence because my armour had been broken by the slices of a Dremora mace in Kvatch, I "borrowed" one of her spare brocades that rested off my shoulders and Vilja and I left in the morning at the break of dawn before anyone could guess why we'd been here or our involvement with Kvatch.
Hearthfire 20th:
We rode down to the Imperial City on our horses, the weather was clear and we got there by half past 3. "Come on, time to make some gold." I said to Vilja when she asked why we were going, not sure of my intentions. "That letter we got from Umbacano about the statues seems to have the potential for a fair reward. I want to get enough gold to offer to that Statue of Clavicus Vile. It'll be fun! He's only the Daedric Prince of wishes, if we don't make any major ones we should be fine. We need enough to buy weapons and supplies too, god knows we'll need it with these Gates to Oblivion emerging. Besides, we need somewhere to store all this junk." I said and gestured to the various weapons and items with value amassing on tthe horses' packs.
"An what about Jauffre? He said to go see someone about the amulet?" Vilja reminded me and my face darkened. A scrap of guilt passed through my conscience again but I ignored it.
"Well that's their problem now, they're Blades, they're trained for this. Besides we need to get you that book!" I said brightly and Vilja wisely said nothing more about it, and leapt onto the discussion of her sister.
The guards in the Imperial City had heard of Kvatch and, having known me before from getting Heironeous Lex, they recognized me instantly. Thankfully the house was near the main gate and Umbacano did indeed offer us a hefty price for getting more Ayleid Statues for him, double their worth, but the catch was he didn't know which ruins any of them were in.
getting just one of the statues could take months as well as risking our lives so, disheartened, we went outside to find it was pouring down. We ran over to the Market District to buy Vilja's book and she estimated with our current gold, 400, we'd last about a month. Neither of us particularly wanted to do any more fighting or dungeon delving but with no one needing our aid, and I certainly wasn't about to trade our gear, we were doomed to be scavenging gypsies. Then as we were running through the rain towards the Merchants Inn I bumped into a beggar I was friendly with and had always tipped. The rumour of beggars being the Gray Fox's eyes and ears popped into my head and a note I'd gotten from a strange dunmer a while ago suddenly came back. After tipping her a bit more generously and sending a compliment her way she revealed with shifty eyes that if I wanted to find the Gray Fox, I should go to the Dareloth Gardens at the Waterfront around midnight. That was only hours away. Not bothering to rent a room in the Merchants Inn and unload our stuff, we started running from one side of the city to the other, the Waterfront was the poorest and where all the ships docked.
It had stopped raining but a fierce gale was blowing up, and as we ran past the Temple it started throwing it down yet again. When we got there we still had an hour to pass so we stopped in the Blloated Float and met that Dunmer again. She said she only delivered the letters, not write therm, so I let it slide as it was nearing midnight. Vilja didn't want to get involved as she was still concerned with saving her sister, so I went alone. I jumped onto a low roof overlooking the garden's only entrance and waited. An Argonian beggar walked into the garden, surely that wasn't him, the Gray Fox is supposedly a male Imperial! I waited a bit longer and sure enough a Redguard with leather armour and a torch walked in with a leather-clad Bosmer following him - now this looked promising.
I jumped down and introduced myself as having come here by a beggar, seeing as my jailbreak in Bruma was a planned one I wouldn't want to start with a false reputation. The Redguard introduced himself as Armand Cristophe, the doyen for the Gray Fox and member of the Thieves Guild. As it's unusual to have three other applicants he offered one of us the chance to join. Whoever gets the journal of Amantius Allectus, without killing or being seen, wins. He hinted that the beggars might be able to tell me where it is but Meredhel, the Bosmer, seems to be familiar with the competition as she's tried to enter before. Maybe she could make my trial easier, we are petitioning to be Thieves after all...
Hearthfire 22nd:
We raided the spells store in the Imperial City and left with our horses packed to the brim with stolen scrolls, we posed as travelling scholars. We closed an Oblivion gate up to Bruma and got the sigil stone in the nick of time, I only had one arrow left. When we got to Bruma it was already approaching evening and I sold all of the scrolls to Ongar, the fence, for a tidy sum of 200 gold.
Vilja needed to find a picture of a Shy Root of Hunger and we'd been advised by the Imperial City alchemist to ask around int the Mages Guilds' alchemists, so we paid Valandria a visit. She had the picture Vilja needed and decided to stay for the night until we continued on to the Imperial City to get this special job from Armand. However though I was expecting a warm welcome from the cheeky Volanaro -perhaps on the bed- we had our first arguement. He closed the dining room door in my face and later when he was forced to talk to me in the study room as we were alone, he complained about me never being here and how I never used magic, always "that pathetic bow and sticks". We ended up yelling and Volanaro even conjured a sword at the height of the fight. I stormed upstairs and as I angrily pulled on my leather gloves I told Vilja we were leaving. We spent the night at Olav's Tap and Tack and left in the morning. I vowed to myself that after the Imperial City we'd head to Anvil Mage's Guild (the one specialising in Restoration) and I'd study there, just to prove that foolish Altmer wrong.
Frostfall 5th:
I rooted out the spy in the Thieves Guild and am now to report to S'Kirrava in Leyawiin, as I've been advanced beyond Armand's legislation. I helped the Order of the Virtuous Blood track down a vampire whom I spared the life of, as he was a human framed by the real vampire, the leader hiself. Vilja fell ill so I had to take down the vampire cave myself, it wasn't easy but turned out to be very much worth it as the new leader gives me 250 gold for every vampire dust I give him. I have enough to start anew in Leyawiin now as that's unquestionably where I'll go, both the Mages and Thieves Guilds require me to go down there to advance.
When she recovered Vilja persuaded me to go and see Baurus in Green Emporer Way like Jauffre asked. He'd been tracking down Mythic Dawn agents in the Iperial City and I found a book called the 'Xarxes Commandments Volume 1' on the body of the agent who attacked him in the inn basement. Baurus asked me too take the book to an expert in the Arcane University and I did, but that's it.
I closed the Oblivion Gate near the Waterfront too, surely that'll be enough for them. I want no more of this, the Kvatch Cuirass stays locked away in my home/shock along with the 'Xarxes Commandments' 1 & 2, we're going to Leyawiin, our normal armour is repaired and I don't want to be noticed again. Hopefully as it's so distant from Kvatch and the Imperial City, nobody will notice.
