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R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
| The Measure of a Woman; Serana's Tale | |
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| Topic Started: Sep 6 2017, 09:48 PM (646 Views) | |
| neildarkstar | Oct 24 2017, 11:51 AM Post #101 |
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Overlord
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Cairn Bolete? Little toadstool like things, right? I think I can help... There was a lot of it in that cave in the forest just off the road between the Imperial City and Skingraad... 'Course it was infested with imps too, eh? Glad she found a solution for BaanDar! Y'know maybe she could invent wrap-around sunglasses... :) |
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| Serethil | Oct 24 2017, 01:29 PM Post #102 |
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Et'Ada
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ROFL! Yeah, I know that cave - however I don't have it available in Skyrim/BS:Bruma! They are actually few and far between so far - lots of Clouded Funnel though! Yep. It's better that she didn't have to kite off to Morthal in the middle here.... |
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| Serethil | Oct 29 2017, 07:48 PM Post #103 |
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Et'Ada
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Fourteen: The Cairn Bolete is problematic So I made sure that I did the curing and preparation right the first time. I had found areas that seemed like the mounds where I’d found the few I had - but they were barren. I wished I had thought to ask Velithra where they could be found in more quantity - but then, she likely wouldn’t have told me. I was beginning to be tired of my aloneness. I had got used to being - accepted - by Verinne’s and Tiercel’s family; so living out here, on the edge of mischance and disaster.... well, I didn’t like it. I wanted this to be done so I could be fully human. But of course, there’s no rushing such a finicky combination of stringent alchemical preparation, meticulous ingredient curing, and probably beyond-my-ability spell-casting. I estimated, a few days after dealing with the Cairn Bolete, that I was still some weeks if not months from actually attempting the spell-component of the curative Velithra had detailed. I also had to go farther and farther afield - because I was a bit iffy about that spell-casting, I had been curing more ingredients than I would likely need as well as making extras of the potions and tinctures. Which meant I had picked the nearby areas clean. It was becoming harder and harder to get back inside the Serpent’s Trail before the light of day was so bright it hurt - and that sapped my energies and caused its own sort of debility. I began to wonder if I should return to Skyrim before attempting the cure itself. It occurred to me that Tiercel had set shrines to Meridia and Azura on one of Solstheim’s highest peaks - and that those two princes had very little use for Bal. I would have to consider carefully.... it might be that I could request their assistance with that spell-casting. Well, of course I could ask - but would they grant the help? I wouldn’t know until they responded - or didn’t. |
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| neildarkstar | Oct 29 2017, 08:24 PM Post #104 |
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Overlord
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Well, it can't hurt to ask... unless of course they turn you into a vampiric toad and set you to wandering in Sithis' pet area... :wat: :thumb: |
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| Serethil | Oct 29 2017, 08:32 PM Post #105 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks neil! Hmm. Vampiric toad.... Sithis.... hmmmm. |
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| neildarkstar | Oct 29 2017, 08:36 PM Post #106 |
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Overlord
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I know I mentioned that I used to pain with acrylics.. well, this one time while my parents were at Band Camp (no, not really - just out of town) I painted a hole complete with various cracks and such in the bathroom mirror. climbing out of the hole was this huge blue demonic toad. Nearly gave my mother a heart attack... |
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| Serethil | Oct 29 2017, 08:40 PM Post #107 |
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Et'Ada
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Oh lordy! Yeah, I'd have probably tanned your hide for sure! |
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| Areial | Oct 29 2017, 10:01 PM Post #108 |
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Et'Ada
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Awesome read Sis... It might be time for her to think about making a safe-haven in a good place.. just in case she can't get all the way back... Neil.. at least it wasn't an Aligator in the bathtub at 4am... Mia Madre was not amused! |
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| Serethil | Oct 29 2017, 10:05 PM Post #109 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks Sis! |
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| Serethil | Nov 3 2017, 07:57 PM Post #110 |
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Et'Ada
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Fifteen: Finally! It’s all done, more than I should need - and I hope, done correctly. The thought of going to Solstheim had simmered in the back of my mind all along, and I truly think it’s a logical thing to do. Of course, I hadn’t been sure about how to get to Solstheim without being outed as a vampire - until just today. That’s when I remembered that Tiercel’s family has a ship. So. It’s doable - if they will allow me the use of the ship, that is, and if there’s a way to keep the captain from knowing about my vampirism. Here I am then, back in Skyrim; getting back over the border was easy enough, just a matter of waiting until the soldiers at the gates fell asleep on watch. I opened the gates as silently as possible, and led BannDar through, having first muffled his hooves in sacks. On the Skyrim side I closed the gates again as quietly as I could, and then led my good horse down the road a ways, then took the sacks off his hooves, mounted and headed into Falkreath, aiming for Helgen and thence to Whiterun. Two seven-days later, I rode into Morthal at middle-night, tired but glad to be back in Skyrim, and in Morthal. I put BannDar up in the stable, and hid myself behind a stack of hay-bales for what was left of the night. I forced myself awake before any of the stablefolk were about; slithering into Tiercel’s kitchen before full light I settled near the hearth, glad of the warmth still radiating from the banked fire. I was dozing when Tiercel and Vartain arrived; they didn’t seem to realize I was there. They were arguing - amiably - about the necessity of keeping court at all times. He was for it, she wasn’t. Finally, fearing that they would talk of things they’d rather not have me overhear, I stood up and bowed a bit. “I think you must not have seen me?” They were quite startled, but then each gave me a hug, and began asking questions so fast I couldn’t keep up. “Wait. Let me tell it all once - to all of you. Unless you have to be at court?” “No. I’ll have a notice sent that there’s no court today. And we’ll get the rest of the family in too!” It humbled me that they seemed truly happy to see me - vampire that I am. |
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| neildarkstar | Nov 3 2017, 10:47 PM Post #111 |
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Overlord
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:thumb: Heh, it took me a moment to remember why she's heading for Solstheim... |
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| Serethil | Nov 3 2017, 11:03 PM Post #112 |
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Et'Ada
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Well, I can get that! Mostly, this tale is totally interwoven with the whole of the background of the Ravens - beginning with Veri. So.... in order to even write anything in Serana's Tale or the Twins' Tale.... I have to have all the previous stories open. For.... cross-checking.... Thanks neil! Edited by Serethil, Nov 3 2017, 11:04 PM.
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| Areial | Nov 3 2017, 11:10 PM Post #113 |
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Et'Ada
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Very nice! Solstiem.... my least favorite place.. |
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| Serethil | Nov 3 2017, 11:23 PM Post #114 |
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Et'Ada
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Actually I prefer Solstheim to Forgotten Vale personally.... Thanks Sis! |
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| Kane | Nov 4 2017, 01:50 PM Post #115 |
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Overlord
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I love Solstheim. The blend of Morrowind and Skyrim is neat to see, and there's so much to do packed into the little island. I need to see about getting a house mod there at some point. Anyhoo, nice to see Serana back in familiar territory! She's pretty much a daughter to Tier and Var at this point, methinks. :) |
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| Serethil | Nov 4 2017, 02:05 PM Post #116 |
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Et'Ada
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Yep. Seems as if they have enough love to spread it around to a 5000 year old teenager! Thanks Kane! |
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| Lapuaboy | Nov 6 2017, 04:14 AM Post #117 |
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Thane
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Very nice Sere! |
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| Serethil | Nov 6 2017, 09:55 AM Post #118 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks Lappy! |
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| Serethil | Nov 8 2017, 09:00 PM Post #119 |
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Et'Ada
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Sixteen: A tale to tell Everyone gathered by midday, and first we ate - well - they did; I’d drunk my synth-blood in private, and sat at table with them holding a goblet of good red wine, which yes, I did sip at times. Of course the food itself wasn’t anything a vampire would really think edible - oh, certainly, we did eat - but mostly raw red meat.... Eh. No. I’m not going into that any further! But that alone made me more determined to be - human. I wanted to want real food.... And that made me glad for the first time that I’d been locked away in a stasis for so long - because I don’t know what I’d have done if I’d been aware all those millennia, wanting something my mother would never have understood.... After the meal, Vartain waved me into the great room of their house, where a lovely fireplace with an always-roaring fire took the place of the usual Nord firepit-in-the-middle-of-the-floor. I’d always wondered how drunkards managed not falling into the fire.... well, perhaps they didn’t? Neither here nor there, except to point up that my mind doesn’t always work the way anyone expects! I settled on a large pillow in front of the hearth; the family gathered in a semi-circle around me. Tiercel’s brother Melkioran said before I started, “Here. Let me fill your goblet, and bring the bottle, as it seems it’s to be a lengthy tale!” I smiled, keeping my fangs hidden. “Thank you, I’d appreciate that.” And then, I took them through the whole of those long moons in Cyrodiil, in Bruma. I told it all, the brigand and bandit killing, the sneaking around to find out about the Wisewitch, the business with paying the stablewoman far too much to keep BannDar; and finally I arrived at the next “chapter”. “So, I have all the ingredients properly prepared, and in larger quantity than I really need - unless I fail of the spell components, which is all too real a possibility because.... I’m far more apt with alchemy than magicks. So to that end, to address my lack there....” Tiercel held up a hand. “None of us is very apt to magicks. We might be able to find someone....” “No no. That’s not what I had in mind at all! Yes, I have a favor to ask - but I think if you grant it, I can - arrange the spell situation on my own.” Melkioran sent me a glance I couldn’t fathom. “So.... you think to ask our ‘family princes’ for help, do you? I knew I went pale. How had he known that? “Aye.... but how did you know?” “Well, when it comes to needing help with magick, that’s what most of us would advise of course!” Tier nodded. So did Var and Veri. The twins seemed a bit confused as did the rest of the kin, most of whom I didn’t know well and in fact didn’t recall most of their names - not for lack of interest mind you, but for lack of time! “Yes. I think I must go to those shrines on Solstheim’s peak, those you set there Tiercel. I’ve felt it so for many a moon now - but had not until just before I left Bruma for home thought how to arrange it.” Home.... my heart knew it. “You have a ship. I would ask the loan of it, for long enough to talk to the princes about my situation. They are - inimical to Molag Bal; I hope I can offer them something - that they will feel is recompense enough for their assistance with the spell-casting.” Var smiled. “Well, that’s no real problem. We’ve no present need for the Mistress. Since we have court most of the days....” Tier glared at him a moment, then grinned. Turning back to me she said, “So. You will wonder about the captain, and how to keep him from knowing what you are.” That’s the one thing about this family that I most appreciate, outside their ingathering of me as someone worthy of knowing, worthy of loving: they understand things that most of the rest of Skyrim does not. “Aye. I would not have him disturbed; and I would not have you coerce him. I can tell you that he will be safe - but he must believe that himself. I have the synth-blood; if he can believe in it....” Melkioran grinned. “Eh, he’s a very.... stolid Nord. Not much bothers him....” “Here, brother-mine. Go bring the good captain along, and we’ll just talk to him about it!” So Melkioran went off as bid and we chatted amiably about many things I’d observed in Bruma while there, as well as the “court fussing” as Verinne called it. “But your Highness” - only to have him interrupt me.... “Call me Vartain, or horse’s ass or whatever, but do NOT ‘highness’ me, damn it!” Um.... fine. “Vartain, what is accomplished by holding court every day with the same jarls and their families and retainers and hangers-on?” “Well, they all get to see that as High King I have an open court, they can ask anything they please as often as they like, and I will answer them - or not, depending.” Verinne grinned at me where Var couldn’t see her, and made “go on go on” motions with her hands. “Hmm. But you are at their beck and call, instead of the opposite, with it set up so. What would actually happen if you reduced court to once a seven-day? You would of course need to have guards placed to ‘remind’ the jarls of the new schedule....” He frowned. And then he looked at Tiercel and Verinne, then back at me. “Uh. So. This is what you twain have been trying to get me to see for years now, isn’t it?” Tiercel plopped herself in his lap, laid her head on his shoulder, gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, “Aye sweetheart. I’d far prefer you live a good long life for me to share, than that you die of temper because the jarls are in our lives all day every day - for decades now!” He sighed. Gloom settled over his face momentarily, but then he laughed - a loud, uproarious laugh I’d personally never heard from him. “I’m an idiot; I admit it. Serana - it’s really too bad you didn’t wake me up thirty years gone now.” “Eh, the problem is that you’ve let the jarls run you, instead of the opposite. It’s not going to be fast - or easy - to fix. But I’d bet you will manage it, and your life will be far happier once done!” At that point, Melkioran ushered the captain of the Mistress into the hall. |
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| Areial | Nov 8 2017, 10:02 PM Post #120 |
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Et'Ada
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Ooooo someone saw the light!! very nice read! |
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