I slept long, and I slept well. The cheap bed I was in was still far better than what I could ever hope to make in the wilderness. I might have stayed asleep until noon, had I not been interrupted. The proprietor of the inn, an aging ginger khajiit, was knocking on my door.
"Wake up, sleepyhead,"
His unfortunate word choice forced some uncomfortable memories into the foreground of my thoughts. My mind circled back to the night before. My failure. It immediately soured my mood. I knew it was no fault of his, but I couldn't help but start disliking the Khajiit at my door. I jerked upward, and stared off at the wall. A few more loud knocks snapped me out of my trance.
"Wake up!"
"Urada, azhva wel'an," (Sorry, This one is awake.) I instinctively spoke in my native tongue. I was unsure if he understood or not, but it didn't matter. He got the gist of it either way.
"Grab your stuff and leave. You rented the bed for the night, not day,"
"Jat, yes. Khajiit will get on it,"
I forced myself from my slumber's warm embrace, and onto the cold wooden floor. I stretched vigorously and yawned loudly. My bones popped and cracked, but it did little to release all the tension I had built up. I had a brief panic when I couldn't find my clothes, but I quickly remembered where I had left them. They were tucked away by the door with my bag. I put it all back on, including my brown travel cloak.
I triple-checked that I had everything. Journal, scrolls, clothes, food, knife, and the rest. I cast my detect life spell in the usual manner - whistling. Each patron of the inn was suddenly shrouded in a mist that I could see clearly, even through the floor. It was a unique experience, and I could feel myself improving in its use. It brightened my mood a little bit and gave me the energy I needed to go forward.
I exited my room and bought some breakfast. I devoured it quickly, satisfying my hunger. It was probably cheap garbage compared to what I used to eat back home, but I either didn't realize or didn't care. I made sure to thank the hospitable khajiit on my way out. I was finally back on the road. Destination: Fanacas.
I had made it only a dozen steps out the door when I remembered - I had a scroll of recall. Obviously, it would be frightening to people if I just suddenly vanished in the middle of the road, so I sheepishly retraced my steps back to the inn. The old khajiit gave me a strange look as I moseyed back inside. I awkwardly smiled at him and walked up the stairs, just far enough so nobody would see me. I pulled out the scroll, but hesitated to use it. What if teleportation hurts? Like, really badly?
I eventually concluded that, if teleportation hurt, I would have heard about it. Therefore, it must be safe. I held my breath, opened the scroll, and gave it a good smack. I was instantly overcome with a tingling sensation all over my body. It was like worms wriggled in my intestines. It was pestilent and sickening. I would have thrown up, but I was able to dedicate my willpower to holding it in. My vision blurred, but it was still obvious that my surroundings had changed. I went from a cramped staircase in a cheap inn to a well-lit stone room; the occupants of which were quite startled at my appearance. I was too disoriented to see much, but I could make out a human and an argonian, standing opposite each other.
"By the hist, who's this?"
"How did- Are you...? By the eight, explain yourself!"
I tried to respond, but instead sneezed all over myself. The argonian let out a surprised chuckle, although the human was not amused.
"Sorry," I eventually responded, "This one has... Never done that before..."
"Yes... we can tell. And as for why you're here?" Asked the human, with a gravelly voice. My vision was clearing up, so I could see him better now. His face was pale and wrinkled, and he had mopped back grey hair. He wore a blue robe trimmed with yellow. A wide enchanted sword hung off of his thick belt, reminding me that, from their point of view, I was an intruder.
"Oh, um... Khajiit was sent here by Aric Lavinius." I responded. They both stared, as if they wanted me to elaborate. "Khajiit can prove it, he gave this one a seal, and an I.O.U for another scroll," I fondled around my bag, searching for the papers Aric gave me, proving I was on Synod business. I combed through the scrolls, my provisions, and my journal, but couldn't find it. My heart sank, and a pit formed in my stomach. They must have noticed, too.
"You lost them, I presume?" Remarked the argonian. She had a thick, foreign accent, and wore a simple green and brown robe. Her scales were a deep, youthful shade of green, with blue and orange scales wrapping around her eyes. It could almost be mistaken for makeup, but I could sense it was all natural. Does... can Argonians even wear makeup? Her scalp was layered with an array of pink and orange feathers, flowing backwards like hair. I had seen Argonians before, but none who were as... flamboyant.
"no... Well, maybe... Give Khajiit a second," I stuttered out in response. I quickly grabbed my knapsack again and brought it up to my muzzle.
"No sudden moves. Until I see that seal, you're an intruder," Said the human.
I continued looking through my bag to no avail. I recalled the night before, how I put the papers in the bedside drawer so they wouldn't be stolen. Alija! Why am I so stupid!?
"It appears that Khajiit... may have left them in the Imperial City," I sheepishly stated. My tail and ears lowered in embarrassment.
"Awfully convenient, wouldn't you say?" Responded the blue-robed human. He cocked up a brow, and moved his crossed arms onto his sword-belt. Really!? I'm not a goddamn liar!
"No, not at all! This is extremely inconvenient for me!"
"It appears so,"
Finally the argonian interrupted:
"How did you get here in the first place? You don't look like a mage, and you've clearly never teleported,"
"It's... a long story. But Aric gave this one a scroll of recall marked on this enclave-"
"Conclave," The human begrudgingly corrected.
"Right, conclave," I continued. "This one stayed the night at a cheap inn, and then used it. Unfortunately, khajiit left the papers at the inn..."
"And why would Aric Lavinius send you here, of all places?" Questioned the human.
"Who's that?" Asked the Argonian. She was ignored.
"I- This one was sent to investigate a strange occurrence at Fanacas,"
His face became serious. It was evident that he was aware of the anomaly I spoke of. "How do I know you aren't lying?" He asked. My mind went blank, searching for an answer to is query. The Argonian took note of my nervousness, and spoke up.
"Callac, he wouldn't know about the anomaly if he wasn't with the Synod," She said, giving a name to the robed man. An expression of gratitude grew across my face, although she didn't seem to notice.
"He could have-"
"Callac, please. I think he's telling the truth,"
"You're just saying that because you're both beasts,"
We both gave the human, Callac, the same condemning look of flabbergast and disappointment.
"Fine, you've made your point." He conceded. "I guess he wouldn't have known about the anomaly if he wasn't sent by Aric. Gods, curse that big mouth of his. So," He pointed back at me, "What are you? An apprentice? Associate? Where are your robes?"
"Well..."
"No... Don't tell me," He said, a look of realization growing across his wrinkled face.
"This-"
"He sent you on a highly confidential mission for your damn recommendation??"
"He didn't make it seem that important when he-"
"Stendarr have mercy. He better know what he's doing... Maraelis, help get him prepared. I'll continue my research. If this doesn't go smoothly..."
"Yes, magister." The Argonian, Maraelis, replied.
The annoyed-looking man stormed off into another room of the building, leaving just the two of us. I gave the Argonian, Maraelis, a confused glance, but she simply turned to me and spoke.
"I'm sorry about him," She remarked, looking somewhat embarrassed., "He can be... slow to trust,"
"It's okay. Khajiit is used to it. People tend not to trust Khajiit,"
She nodded solemnly, before continuing. "Well, welcome to our conclave, I suppose. I'm Maraelis," She said, extending her scaly hand towards me.
"J'saddha," I replied, shaking her hand.
"J'saddha..." She slowly repeated, rolling the name off her tongue. "Interesting name. Not from around here?"
"Of course not. This one hails from Elsweyr."
"Really? I heard the Dominion watches their borders closely. I'm surprised you got out,"
"It was nothing. Khajiit simply followed the moons," I responded cryptically. I knew she wouldn't understand what I was referring to, but I thought it wise to leave some unanswered questions.
"I'll just pretend I know what that means," She chuckled. "So, you hope to join the Synod? I only joined about a week ago,"
"Yes, but It hasn't been going too well..."
"How so?"
I didn't want to drive her away, but I couldn't stop myself from answering truthfully. "If J'saddha is speaking honestly, no. It has been awful. All this one wanted to do when he got here was to join the Synod, learn magic, and make himself into someone he could be proud of. But now? It's all so confusing..." Thoughts of Aric, the wells, and the mage trio came rushing back to me.
She sighed, "I'm sorry. Cyrodiil just isn't what it used to be." She paused for a moment, somehow sensing my thoughts. "It took me a while to prove myself, too. Imperials are tough to impress, but I'm sure you can find a way. Just don't give up, and you'll be fine," Her words brought me some relief.
"Thanks. J'saddha has just had a rough few days. That means a lot, really,"
"Glad," She flashed a brief, lizard-like smile. "Come, we have work to do. You're investigating the Fanacas anomaly, right?
I nodded. "Indeed. Do you know anything about it?" I asked. She started heading down the stairs, and I followed.
"Not much. All I know is that there's some inconsistent magicka readings, and that it's either being warded, or it has a natural resistance to scrying magic," She revealed, as she knelt down to investigate some dusty tomes on the bottom shelf.
"Nothing else? Not even what it looks like?"
"No. It doesn't even necessarily have a physical form as far as we know. So far, it's only been detected by scrying, and we don't have any dedicated divinators in this conclave, so we haven't been able to detect any more than what's already known," She explained, gathering a few books and looking over their covers. She appeared almost disinterested in the conversation, but she still took the time to contribute. Perhaps I simply didn't understand Argonian body language.
"So what can J'saddha possibly discover if it can only be detected by scrying? J'saddha does not know too many spells,"
"Being somewhere... connecting with its natural magic... It shows far more than a simple scrying spell could ever hope. You'll discover plenty. Even just the way the air feels can be worth noting,"
"Oh, good. J'saddha would not want to return empty handed again,"
"Again?" She questioned, tilting her head in a strange motion. She looked as if she was about to hand me the books, but she stopped.
Ziss! How did I let that slip?
"Well- I- umm..."
"Don't want to talk about it?" she finished.
"Yes, thank you." I replied, relieved that she didn't press further. There was an awkward moment of silence between us before I spoke up.
"So, has anything like this been detected before?"
"Not recently. I... I do remember that similar readings were taken from the Oblivion gates back during the crisis. Pooling magicka, resistance to scrying..."
"You don't think this could be the same thing?"
"No. The gates gave off much more energy than the anomaly does, from what I've heard. They only discovered the anomaly through coincidence. The gates were detected almost immediately,"
"Ah, good. I would hate for there to be another Oblivion Crisis. It really hit Riverhold hard, from what the clan-mother told us,"
"Yes, agreed. Although we Argonians had a much easier time dealing with it,"
"So I've heard," We both chuckled, recounting the tales of the hist-fueled Argonian phalanxes marching boldly into the gates, counter-invading literal hell. I didn't really fully believe the stories, since the An-Xileel did have quite a large hand in spreading them. Could easily be propaganda.
"The anomaly has something to do with the corrupted wells, no?" I asked her, getting back on topic.
"Indeed. We were informed immediately when they discovered the anomaly, but never given any directive." She suddenly paused, and seemed to remember her task. She started walking to the other end of the room, books in hand. I tailed close behind. "Callac chose to ignore it in favor of cleansing the local wells,"
"The corrupted wells are out here, too? J'saddha thought it was just in the great forest,"
"Yes, I'm afraid. Most of the wells from here to the West Weald have been hit. Every time we cure the tainted magicka, it comes back a day later. We've dedicated half the guildhall to field study and well cleansing. So far, we've come up with nothing," She placed the stack of books on a table, and took some leather strips from a drawer.
"So where does that leave us? Do we really not know anything?"
"There's certainly more to it, but Callac won't tell me what else he knows. I've tried some of the higher-ranking magisters, but they won't budge either. Whole of the university has been on edge, too, and not just because of the wells. In fact, most of them probably don't even know what we're dealing with out here. Something else is happening that's keeping their attention,"
"The university? You've been there recently?"
"Of course. I only arrived at this conclave yesterday. They reinstated the old guild guides, and the fee is surprisingly cheap,"
"Why come out here? If you don't mind J'saddha asking. This one thought the arcane university was the best place for an apprentice..."
"It's okay. I came because I'm an atronach. I can't generate my own magicka, so without the wells I'm pretty starved for any sort of power. Callac, for all his rudeness, is the only other person who's taking this whole 'well' thing seriously. I came here to help him figure out what's happening,"
Aric also takes it seriously, I thought. But the mention of the atronach intrigued me "An atronach? That is a star sign, yes? In Elsweyr, we call it the Khi'nafi - the Golem. This one was born under the sage."
"Ah, that's a good one. It is said that people born under that sign learn magic faster,"
"Yes. J'saddha learned a spell in under an hour two days ago. It's really useful,"
"I wish I could learn that fast. The quickest spell I've learned was one to summon a scamp, and that took over a day, and I had to refill my magicka several times from failed attempts,"
"Do you ever wish you weren't born an atronach? Not being able to regenerate magicka sounds awful,"
"It can get annoying, but there are benefits,"She wrapped the leather straps around the books, binding them tightly together. "For one, I can absorb most of a spell's effects, making me practically immune to hostile magic users. My magicka reserves are also far greater than that of any other sign."
"I see. Do you also absorb healing spells? What about spells you cast on yourself?"
"Healing spells included, I'm afraid. Spells I cast on myself work just fine, though," She placed the tomes in her satchel. The curiosity finally broke me, and I decided to ask her what they were for.
"What are those books for?"
"you ask a lot of questions," She noted.
"Apologies. J'saddha is naturally inquisitive,"
"No need to apologize. It's a good trait. Well, two of the books are notes on the tainted wells. The others are general manuscripts on Aylied magics. I'm going to bring them to the university. Hopefully someone more qualified will come along and help. At the very least, I'm hoping to get the attention of someone on the council," She explained.
"Oh, then you could start by speaking with Aric. He seemed worried about the wells too. I think he's on the council,"
"He's the one that sent you here, right? I'll make sure to look for him,"
She turned to the table, grabbed the satchel by the strap, and whisked it over her head in a fluid motion.
"Since J'saddha is heading that way, do you how to get to Fanacas?" I asked.
"Not off the top of my head. I was in that area before, but never been to the ruin itself. There should be a dirt road that goes through Windrange, and then ends at an old run-down mansion. If I recall correctly, you only need to head east a mile or two from there to get to the ruin. It's tall and hard to miss. You'll be fine,"
I'll be fine, I mentally repeated. For some reason, her words were very soothing.
"You should start preparing. It's a one-and-a-half day walk. minimum. If you need any help or advice, I'll be here,"
"You have my gratitude. What do you think Khajiit will need? Are the ruins dangerous?"
"Not especially - at least not on the outside. Do you know any destruction magic?"
"A weak flare spell. This one killed a skeleton once with it,"
"...Yes, that's what a flare spell is for. Anything else?"
"I also have a scroll of longstride and another scroll that summons a Dremora churl,"
"Then you should be fine. From what we know, the anomaly is on the outside of the ruins, far from any inside dangers. Ghosts and skeletons don't really wander out of those places,"
yeah, right.
"This one will keep that in mind,"
She nodded, "You should leave soon if you want to reach Windrange before sunset. They have a nice inn over there you can stay at,"
I looked behind me and up the stairs. Callac was standing there, conversing with another mage.
"Then this is goodbye," I said.
"It appears so. I wish you luck, J'saddha. You'll be a Synod member in no time,"
"Do you mean that?"
"Of course,"
And with that I left. I walked up the stairs, towards the two mages. But something was wrong... Something was incomplete. But I just couldn't tell what it was. I stopped, and went back.
"Maraelis..."
"J'saddha?"
"I just wanted to say thank you. Besides Aric, you are the only person who's actually been nice to J'saddha. Who actually believed he could become a mage,"
"Oh, don't be so sappy. It's the least I could do for a fellow beast,"
"Well, it really means a lot to me. Trust is in short supply these days. Thank you. Truly,"
"You're welcome, then. I'll see you at the university," She said, giving a lizard-like wink. I left the room feeling better than ever. I had a friend now. Well, not a 'friend', but someone who is friendly, and that was good enough for me. I walked back up the stairs, and passed by the two mages.
"Hey, Khajiit!" Spoke Callac. I slowly turned around, not really wanting to speak to him. I was still deep in thought. "Do you have what you need?" he asked.
"Yes," I told him, "Maraelis told J'saddha everything he needs to know. Khajiit will be back in a day or two,"
"Alright. Don't muck this up, cat,"
"J'saddha will try his best," I spoke truthfully, before exiting the conclave.
__________
Okay, this one was just a bunch of talking. Hopefully it was entertaining talking, though. Two new characters introduced, so that's pretty cool.
Wind Range is an abandoned campsite found in Oblivion. In my version of events, the campsite eventually grew into a small hamlet called Windrange. I never quite jived with the fact that we have all this space and like ten total settlements. I'll be adding in more of these miscellaneous towns and hamlets to the story when they are needed.
Also I should probably address why I call it the 'sage' instead of the 'mage'. It's because frick you that's why. I've decided to add some spice, and use an old arena-era name for that starsign. I'll probably be using some of the towns from arena, since it had a more realistic map of settlements.
Also, if this ever ends up heading to skyrim (it's an elder scrolls fanfic, it's gonna end up in skyrim at some point (Not anytime soon though don't worry)) I'm going to go off of a mix of old-lore skyrim and modern skyrim. That means Karthwasten is a major city, and nords are all naked tree huggers.