User blog:Psychomantis108/Story: Myths of Mundus: Dark Pilgrimage - Chapter 10: Crovenhoft

Arlas, Bologra and their new companion sat in silence, shell-shocked by the day's events for different reasons. Though their table was deathly silent, the tavern was teaming with life, conversations, the gentle plucking of loot strings and the occasional burst of laughter.

It was a nice atmosphere, which was the audible equivalent of the glow that came off of the fireplace and the coziness of the place. It was quite clear that the tavern was relatively new and so, it was somewhat lacking in decoration, in fact it didn't even have a sign out front as the owners were still trying to think of something to put on it.

The Bard's melody quickly upped in tempo as he got into the piece and swiftly began to pluck at the lute strings, getting the attention of several patrons, some of which began to cheer as he got closer and closer to the finale. Arlas didn't really understand music, it wasn't really her thing and she struggled to figure out what the song was meant to be about. Though, in truth, it was most likely about his conquests, either out on the road against a lion or in the bedroom with a lioness, either way, she didn't think that it was worth writing a song about it.

The Bard eventually finished, with a final tug of his loot strings, resulting in a half hearted round applause from some of the patrons as he bowed to them, showering himself in their praise.

After a few moments of receiving praise, he turned back and grabbed a tip jar, slowly wandering around the room as he panhandled the patrons. Arlas rolled her eyes and looked away, not really wanting to part with her coin...

"Not one for the Arts?" The Khajiit asked, rather smugly as he gave her a menacing grin and raised his tankard, leaning back at an angle, so that his foot could stick out.

Arlas just scoffed and took a swig of her ale, which was noticeably better than that found in the Imperial City. It's most likely, because they have access to real grain here or maybe it was because they had their own private recipes. The Bosmer found herself looking back up to her Khajiit companion, seeing that he was still waiting for a response from her.

"Music just isn't my thing... They're just singing what the drunks are saying, it's hardly impressive."

The Khajiit laughed, heartily at that statement, her bitterness kind of caught him off guard.

"Ah... but it is, it takes real skill to make a drunken fist fight or a romantic conquest sound like an epic tale, sang by bards. Normally because it's hard to remember the details...

Trying to piece together the steps of a drunken night out? I do not envy them..."

As the Khajiit spoke, the Bard quickly rushed over to their table and obnoxiously shoved the tip jar in their faces, desperately moving from one group member to the other as he tried to find their leader or the one with the softest heart.

"Penny for the song?" He asked, placing the jar under Arlas' nose, resulting in her rolling her eyes.

"No, sorry..."

Still undiscouraged, the Bard put the jar under the Khajiit's nose, resulting in a disingenuous shrug.

"Sorry friend but I'm all out..."

The Bard nodded as he moved onto the next potential sucker, quickly placing his tip jar under Bologra's nose.

"Penny for th-"

"Piss... Off..."

With a stern warning like that, the Bard could hardly press on, not if he valued his teeth. He placed his hand on the jar and laughed nervously as he stepped away, quickly finding another table to annoy, who could protect him, in case the Orc wanted to settle any grudges.

Bologra couldn't care less about his 'grudges' in reality and was quite content with drinking his ale, which tasted too damned sweet for his liking but it was better than the stale piss that they served in Skyrim...

"So..." Arlas began, lightly tapping her fingers on the table as she thought about her next point and topic of conversation.

"You haven't told us your name, Khajiit..." She pointed out, gently bringing herself upright again and sitting back as the Bandit gave her a sultry smile and shook his head.

"No... But to be fair, you two haven't really introduced yourselves either." The Khajiit pointed out, quickly sitting up as much as he could as he composed himself.

"I am Nair Quicksilver, dashing rogue and wanted highwayman, at your service."

"Quicksilver?" Arlas gagged, quickly chuckling into her hand before burying her mouth in her mug as her laughs echoed inside.

"Go ahead, make fun..." He sighed, with mock disappointment.

"To be fair, I was sixteen when I came up with that name, so cut me some slack..."

"Yeah Arlas, it's not like you can't say that it ain't a true name, I mean when you throw him? He can move pretty quickly through the air." Bologra butted in, sniggering to himself as he finished, resulting in the Khajiit rolling his eyes.

Arlas looked up and saw his reaction, resulting in her doing her best to sober up and stop laughing.

"S-Sorry Nair... It's always good to know who tried to kill me or... whatever..."

"Kill you? My dear woman, do you think that I could do that?"

Bologra just snorted, pulling his tankard away from his mouth and wiping the foam off of his beard, with his forearm.

"Well, you were going to rob her... And then make her your 'queen'."

"I only said that to get under your skin, my jolly green friend...

In truth, I find there to be a certain allure in winning my potential conquests over with charm and through the clever use of subtle tactics..." The Bandit explained, slowly turning his gaze over to Arlas, who did not return his smile.

"Yeah... Well, this one isn't a 'potential conquest,' there's no potential as far as I'm concerned..."

"Yep... She's a Priest, so you're barkin' up the wrong tree." Bologra snorted, knocking back the rest of his stale piss as he chuckled, reveling in the misfortune that that revelation must have caused.

"A... Priest?" Nair asked, seemingly blown away by this as he saw it as an unfortunate tragedy, a great conquest lost to a life of celibacy...

In truth though, Arlas hadn't taken her vows but the misconception that all Priests and Acolytes were celibate was a misconception that she wasn't in a hurry to debunk any time soon.

"Yep, I've been a 'servant of the Nine' since I was a kid." She shrugged, checking her tankard and sighing heavily as she found that it was empty. She'd need a refill, definitely.

"Really?" Bologra asked, finding that it was his turn to be surprised, though obviously this wasn't as big of a shock as last time.

"Y'know... You don't really act like it..."

Arlas shrugged and leant back as the waitress came over and topped them up, giving them the same swill as last time, whether they wanted it or not.

"How... What do you mean?"

"Well, you swear a lot, you summon Daedra and you seem to hate being around that chapel. I thought that you were all supposed to be... y'know..."

"Boring?" Arlas asked, hoping to help him out and make light of the situation. In truth, she kind of knew what he meant, she wasn't typical among the other Chapel Folk or even among the other Acolytes. She preferred to be out of the chapel, getting her hands dirty and having fun, keeping herself busy and actually helping people to sitting around debating scripture.

"Yeah!"

"Well, erm... I dunno really. I mean growing up? It was a mixed bag, I liked practicing magic but I definitely liked Conjuration the most, I liked helping people but not sitting around waiting for people to come to me, I also liked studying and being useful, instead of meet and greets." The Bosmer shrugged, leaning back in her chair and sighing.

"I guess I just got a little too rebellious for my own good... I'm never called out on it but... You can tell that they expect me to be like them, which I'm not really and I don't really want to be. I like having my hair like this, summoning Daedra and helping people by beating up other people...

The thought of sitting around, making tea for old ladies, makes me want to tear what little hair I have on my head out."

Bologra and Nair smirked but quickly fell silent, watching as Arlas began to take her first sip of her second Tankard.

"I mean... Don't get me wrong, it has it's advantages... The resources, the fact that I always have a roof over my head and it gives me the ability to repel creepy guys, whenever I want." She smirked, slowly turning her attention back to Nair, who shrugged as it was a fair point.

"Ha, duly noted... For what it's worth, I wouldn't pursue you, given that you're a Priest of the Nine. I wouldn't want to get on the bad side of the Gods or their servants..."

"Trust me buddy, you're already there..." Bologra pointed out, knocking some ale back as he sighed heavily, sounding like he was talking from personal experience.

"Ha, fair enough again... I suppose the Nine don't look too kindly on retched thieves, who steal from people at knife point."

"And kill them if they resist..." Arlas added, with a slight bitterness in her tone as she slowly sipped her mead.

"Actually, I've only killed a handful of people, during my time... In fact, I've bedded more of my 'victims' than I've killed, their choice of course."

"Oh, so you ain't a bandit, you're a whore?" Bologra asked, finding himself amused by his own observation, again, the Khajiit just shrugged.

"Well, if I am a whore, none have ever complained about the service that I give." Nair shrugged, leaning back and sighing.

"Either way, murder doesn't exactly come easy to me, I usually just chase my targets for a bit and then 'accidentally' lose them. The only time that I've ever killed anyone was in self defense." Nair explained further as he took another swig of his mead.

"So... You kill people, because you were defending yourself against their self defense against you?" Arlas asked, unable to hide her confusion, it sounded so... bizarre and such a waste of life, people dying over a misunderstanding.

"I... Suppose so, as... confusing as that is."

"So they die for nothing then?" Arlas asked, in a harsher tone.

"Why don't you just tell them that you don't want to kill them!?"

"Reputation..." Bologra answered, cutting Nair off as he lowered his mug down to the table and registered Arlas' confusion.

"If he admits to one person that they aren't in danger, then no one will take him seriously again. Not that I imagine many people did to begin with but still, if he kills someone, who attacks him, then it sends the message that he isn't a guy to be screwed with and attacking him isn't a good idea."

The Orsimer's explanation didn't exactly assure Arlas that the situation wasn't any less shitty but she understood the logic of it. She didn't like it but she understood it and suddenly found it difficult to pass judgment.

"You... Sound like you know a lot about it..." She commented, causing Bologra to fall silent as he shrugged.

"I've done my fair share of Mercenary contracts, I know what it takes to make it in that world or any world that isn't all white and shiny."

"Hmmm... Well, think of it this way, Sister. If you think about it, it's better for someone like me to be prowling the roads, than a merciless killer, no? A few people have been killed by me but a lot of bandits don't even ask first. I rob people, yes but I rarely kill, in that regard I'm pretty harmless, if you compare me to my predecessors and my successors.

"Yeah, except you've just told us about your little tactic, so your reputation'll go down the shitter."

"Ha, I'm retired! I couldn't care less about my reputation at this point, it could even save my life, if anyone comes looking for me."

"Wait... 'Retired?'" Arlas asked, sounding somewhat dumbfounded.

"Since when?"

"Since this afternoon, when I was knocked out and almost eaten by wolves, I see this as a sign from the Gods." The Khajiit replied, sounding rather humbled from the divine experience.

"What, that you need to change your ways?" The Bosmer asked, though she didn't sound like she believed him, he didn't exactly sound sincere.

"No, that I need to change careers... Preferably to something outside of being an outlaw. It pays awful, I keep getting stung by nettles and I'm sure that my sword skills would be put to better use, protecting the pretty neck of a nobleman's daughter." Nair slowly smiled as he finished speaking, finding himself to be fantasizing about his dream job...

"Yeah but the noble probably isn't going to let you sleep with his daughter, you know that, right?" Arlas asked, hoping to burst his bubble, though she didn't know why as she didn't usually have a love for crushing dreams.

"Oh, I know... That's part of the fun." Nair admitted, giving off a chuckle as he shook his head and knocked another mouth full of mead back.

"Damn... I once served as some asshole's bodyguard..." Bologra grumbled scratching his head as the memories came flooding back to him.

"Oh? Was it a career that you'd recommend?"

"Hell no, it's just a life of constantly being told what to do by some asshole, who talks to you like you're a piece of shit. Eventually, I got sick of it, so I punched him." The Orc ended on a quick burst of laughter as he remembered the site of the dumbfounded Nord Nobleman squirming around on the floor, trying to find his missing teeth.

"Wh-Whoah... You punched him?" Arlas choked, trying not to laugh, though she didn't know why, since nobody would care if she did.

"Yeah, right in the jaw... Knocked a couple of teeth out to, got to watch him pick 'em back up, it was hilarious."

"Why?" Arlas asked, finding herself to be a little shocked at this as she wasn't a very violent person herself...

Bologra shrugged as he tried to recall, scratching his stump as he did so as it still itched...

"Erm... Well, he used to call me 'Orc,' knowing full damn well what my name was. He used to say 'the Orc' can do this or the 'The Orc' can do that... Like I was his friggin' dog or something.

So, then he found himself saying 'The orr cau pik mah qeef up!'"

Arlas gave up all attempt at smothering her laughter, bursting out into a giggling fit.

"Ha, okay, I can't really argue with that..."

"I know you can't... Guy was an asshole, everyone said it, even the guy who used to pay me said it. So I did myself and all of them a favor..." Bologra's enthusiasm faded as he slowly began to scratch his stump, he was going at it a little harder now and as a result, the sound of his finger nails grazing his skin grew more and more audible.

"How is it?" Arlas asked, realizing that she hadn't checked for a while.

"Huh?" Bologra then noticed that she was talking about the stump as he quickly brought it out.

"It's... Fine... Erm... It's just... Friggin' weird is all." He slowly pulled the stump up to the table and showed it her.

"I can still feel my hand there... Like I'm flippin' Nair off right now, I can feel it."

"Great..." The Khajiit sighed, looking away as he ran his hand over his head, combing his hair with it.

"I'm being ghost flipped..."

Arlas moved closer to the Orc and took his arm, examining it as she did so...

"Hmm... That's normal, you'll probably be feeling that for a while, until your body gets used to not having your hand there..." The Bosmer commented as Nair slowly began to sit up and examined it himself, seeing the brace around his arm as an idea began to form in his head but still, he said nothing as he went back to his drink, quickly realizing that it was empty...

"So... How'd you lose it? Y'know, assuming that it isn't too soon to talk about your lost lover?" Nair mocked, a joke that went over Bologra and Arlas' head for various reasons.

Bologra glanced back to the stump on his arm and slowly pulled it away as he began to nurse it in his hand, he eventually shrugged and glanced up.

"Sure but only if someone gets me another round..."

The Khajiit smiled and looked over, quickly getting the attention of a passing waitress as he did so.

"Another round of your finest oxen piss for me and my companions!" He called, cheerfully before turning back to the two of them, prompting Arlas to glance up to Bologra.

"Well... It happened a few days ago..."