User blog:Psychomantis108/Daggerfall: Chapter 1 - Cloak and Dagger

Agatha coughed, furiously as she thrashed around on the floor, trying to find her front, so that she could get the water, out of the back of her throat. Her heavily scratched and cut up fingers were buried in the dirt as she clutched it, prompting her to spit the water out and pant heavily as her arms trembled under her weight.



The Breton collapsed on the small puddle she'd just made, thankfully, she didn't feel the damp press against her chest as she was already sodden, head to toe. She was somewhat too busy to care about it, given how she was merely fighting to stay awake as she stared into the flame of her meagre campfire...





A flash of light appeared before Agatha's eyes, causing them to wince as she looked away as a bald man in ceremonial robes and a small brown tuft of beard clung to his chin lit up a torch, with his finger tips.



It probably impressed those who weren't fluent in magic but considering Agatha could do that when she was twelve, it didn't seem like like much of a feat to her...



Her eyes remained fixed on the slits that hid the bald man's sharp, piercing eyes. His brow, which was thick and bushy enough to house a dozen small birds, creased as he glared at her. This momentarily distracted her as a second figure illuminated in the darkness, a second, balding man, older and more... noble...



“Excuse the gloom...” Uriel Septim said as his became fully illuminated, prompting Agatha to look at her surroundings. She immediately grew suspicious upon seeing him, given how... cloak and dagger this all was.



“But none may know of this meeting...” As the Emperor finished speaking, he glanced away, looking somewhat troubled as his attention turned to the floor.



“The nature of my trouble is darker still...”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">He quickly looked up, as if he was already deep in rhetoric. Agatha preferred it this way, cutting through the shit and getting to the point, it was exactly what she needed at this time.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“Over a year ago, King Lysandis of Daggerfall died honourably on the field of battle. He was as loyal a subject, ally and... friend as you are.”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">The light let Agatha see the Emperor's face, just a little more, perhaps it was all that time spent in the void. Some say he still hadn't recovered. Perhaps it was the grave nature of his problem or perhaps it was the recent squabbles building up across the continent... or maybe it was all three.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Either way, he looked incredibly tired, weak even and most oddly enough, for him at least, he looked distressed. His eyes quickly left her's as they fell down to the floor as he shook his head in sorrow...

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“I did... grieve for him...” He explained, prompting Agatha to fall silent, she considered offering her condolences but the Emperor gave her little time to do so before he hastily sat up and leant forward.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“But his spirit does not rest... With a spectral army, he haunts his former kingdom, crying for revenge!” He explained, pausing to look away again as a mixture of concern and confusion hit his face.

<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“I do not know why such a good and loyal man would be cursed...” He then looked up as in realisation.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“Perhaps you can find the answer and close shut the jaws of Oblivion, bringing peace to his soul.”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> The Emperor leant back, straightening himself and slowly regaining his composure and pride as he returned to his official stance.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“ I ask this as your Emperor and your friend...” He said, he almost seemed like he was putting himself at Agatha's mercy. To Agatha... this wasn't anything too new, ten years ago, she would've called this turdas. She was, of course, willing to do it.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“ I have one... lesser request.” He added, slowly lifting his head as if he was in a trance, taking his mind back to his days as a younger man...

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“ Several years ago, I wrote a letter to the Queen of Daggerfall, it never arrived...

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> It was of a sentimental and... personal nature, if you find and destroy that letter, I will be grateful.” He informed her as he sat back in his chair, strewing his arms over its sides, twisting the corners of his mouth into something that resembled a smile.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“ Now, my Champion! Rest well this night, for tommorrow you sail for the Kingdom of Daggerfall!”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> After finishing, the Bald attendant drove his torch, into a pot of sand and extinguished it, causing everything to cut out, into black.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> Agatha's eyes fluttered open as she sleepily raised her head from the ground, wincing as the stones dug into her pelvis, deep enough to leave a rather painful indentation in them. She shook her head, rather fiercely, scowling as she did so.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“ Why couldn't they have just bloody teleported me here?” She asked, looking around, sighing heavily as she slowly rose to her knees as she looked around to see a colossal mudslide that had sealed her in this cave. Thankfully, there was a path ahead, that hopefully didn't end as she turned left as that would be an absolute piss-take, by anyone's standards.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> She arose to her feet, noticing that her pathetic excuse of a camp fire was now an ashtray, still, it mattered not as it provided little comfort in the darkness. Still, it was partly responsible for her clothes being less damp, so she owed it that much.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> Just got to head forward...  She sighed, drawing her staff and limping forward with it, wincing as the stones buried in her side.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">'' Find Dodger... Get back on track for the Emperor's quest... ''

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> Agatha stretched, feeling less pain as she did so and readying her staff, ready to face whatever came her way. She stepped forward, noticing that there was a torch, in the next room and more disturbingly, something flickering in the darkness...

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> She furrowed her brow as she stepped in, noticing that whatever it was, it was a small rodent that flew, squeaking like a mouse. This gave her enough to go on as she spun around, zapping the bat out of the air, with her staff. She panted heavily as it fell to the floor, sighing as she hung her head, as she regained her energy... As she hung her head, she noticed how soggy her shirt was. It was incredibly uncomfortable and wasn't much by way of armour...

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> She sighed, heavily, quickly pulling it over her head, a vile yellow T-Shirt, fancy clothing but it looked ugly as sin. Dodger bought it her, back before they stepped onto their boat, she said that she would gladly do all of the 'boat stuff' as she elegantly called it, if Agatha agreed to wear that horrid shirt for the entirety of the trip.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> Well, she was at the shoreline and now both ends of the deal had been kept...

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> Agatha pulled her shirt off, sighing heavily as she shivered, exposing her bare torso to the freezing, damp, cave air. The shirt went straight down onto the floor, not far from the recently barbecued bat's smoking corpse.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">“ See you in whatever plane of Oblivion will take you, shirt!” Agatha sighed, with a faint smirk on her face, resting her staff on her shoulder as she stepped out.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">'' Just wish I'd worn underwear... ''