Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Hard times in Skyrim (1x1x1)

(Elder Scrolls themed RP with Sketch444 and Eonrising)
It is the Fourth era upon Nirn, and Skyrim is in perhaps a time of great change. Alduin's prophesy to bring on the end of the world has been thwarted by the last Dragonborn, who has not returned to Skyrim since his journey to Solthsteim. Titus Mede II, Ruler of what remained of the Empire, has been assassinated allegedly by the Dark Brotherhood, further crippling Imperial authority all across Tamriel. The war between the Imperial legion, and the rebels of Ulfric Stormcloak, has become a bloody stalemate. The people of Skyrim are caught in a mess that spares no man woman or child. Nord followers of Talos are persecuted within the Imperial-held cities under the inquisitive eye of the Thalmor, yet the races of Man without Nordic descent, Mer, and Beastfolk are greeted with hatred and prejudice in Stormcloak held territories. Not even the appearance of the Dragonborn has managed to wash the minds of the jaded citizens of Skyrim from the wrong-doings of this time.

J'o Rahe stands solemnly outside a tavern in the settlement of Dawnstar, of which despite being more or less a snowy northern waste, offers valuable refuge from the conflict down south. The Bosmeri looking Khajiit holds his head high toward the sky, Masser and Secunda are both alinged with eachother, and the stars light up the night above. The weather is still as he ponders to himself of his next journey. Luckily, the tavern door is flung upon, and the warmth from inside is very welcome. From the interior, Rahe can hear the songs of bards and the talk of Nords. They speak of how the Imperials are broken without the Emperor, victory is soon at hand. 'Is it truly worth it..?' The Khajiit thinks to himself. 'This conflict, this... bloodbath, which has brought only despair to the north... What good will it bring..?' An uneasy feeling burns up inside of Rahe, but he hasn't time to think of the future, as the thrall of an obscure Daedric prince, the khajiit awaits his new objectives.

A deathly pale Argonian, wearing Dragon scale armor passed by J'o Rahe. A larhe ornamental scythe was strapped to the Argonians back, and his feet were Digit-grade, an odd trait for most beast races in Skyrim. The argonian gave off a cold, unforgiving and cruel atmosphere. An intimidating set of fangs jutted out from his upper jaw. Aside from red face paint, much of hsi face was obscured by a cloak, with his straight horns poking out the back of the hood. "Phe, What's a bosmer doing in this frozen hell hole?"It asked itself.

"Bosmer?" a thick, nearly unrecognizable accent jeers from the right side of the entrance, "Do you not know a Khajiit when you see one?"
The voice belongs to a Cathay-Raht Khajiit sitting at a table just inside the tavern, "Come, my brother," he lifts a pint towards the elven looking khajiit and then takes a sip.
True to his breeds' nature, this khajiit is massive, standing at 7'9", and it's easy to tell even while he's sitting. Coupled with his size, he's covered in dragon-bone armor and a dragonbone battleaxe and a dwarven crossbow rest at his side.
The Nords around him seem to be giving him particularly "special" attention, seeing as there is an imperial dragon rather boldly emblazoned on the chest-plate of his armor, though he seems unfazed.
"Come, sit, drink," he urges, then turns to the pale argonian, "You too, my reptilian comrade. Ignorance is no reason to reject a potential friend," he said wisely... Or drunkenly... It was hard to tell.

The argonian let out a hiss. "I don't drink meed. I prefer, finer drinks."The argonian responded, continuing on into the tavern. Now in the light of a Tavern it became clear that the argonian had a longer, thinner snout than most other Argonians, and his gauntlets seemed modified to accommodate talons or claws. The tail was also longer and more powerful looking, a clear indication that this Argonian spent plenty of time in water in the Black Marsh.

J'o Rahe suddenly emerged from the prison of his brooding mind, only to find himself being offered a good drink in the tavern, who also happened to be a fellow from Elsweyr. He snapped out of his little world of thought, accompanied by an apology. "Please forgive me if I had ignored the both of you for a moment there, I was simply daydreaming." Khajiit were rare up in Skyrim, especially in the north, so Rahe thought that it would be best to take up his kinsman's offer. He didn't want to draw too much attention to the slightly dubious looking argonian. The pale, almost vampiric Argonian seemed even more out of place to the Khajiit than Rahe did himself.

Moving toward the warmth of the tavern, Rahe's teal glass armour and silver sword glinted in the presence of the raving fire in the middle, where all of the Nords sang and drunk. He normally kept his distance, not were Khajiit scorned as thieves and burglars, but now, they were prejudiced because their homeland was a client state of the Aldmeri Dominion, home to the Thalmor. It wasn't long before Rahe sat down by his much larger kinsman. Even in a fellow's presence, Rahe's composure was still that of a shy being. He knew that he would have to break the ice of this conversation none-the-less. "So then, what brings you to the far north, 'Jaguar-man?'" Rahe asked, attempting to hide his nervousness.

The Argonian kept walking, walking over to the bar and getting a bottle of wine. He looked around the room before a nord waved, getting his attention. He was supposed to meet this man. Hsi caln had recently began to muscle in on Dark Brotherhood and Thieves guild Territory. The Argonian wasn't intimidated by either faction. He'd devoured many a Dark brother hood assassin in his life, and he knew he'd not only be difficult to track down, and even then, chances are who ever they sent wouldn't even know he was a Vampire, much less a Vampire Lord.

"Fine, ignore me," Dmitri grumbled at the reptilian man then looked over at J'o Rahe and smiled, albeit a little drunkenly.
"I am here to spread the word and true opinion of the Empire and the men of its legions," he replied after a sip of mead and he pounded the dragon on his chest. "How about you, my elf-like friend?"

Rahe sighed to himself in pity. "Me... I am only here to find a better life away from Tamriel's conflict, now I've found myself up here in the far north. It is not much, but compared to the rest of Skyrim, it is a quiet sanctuary." The Mer-like Khajiit looked away, lamenting the life that he had been forced to forget. "I have thought hard about returning down south, back to Cyrodiil, but now that Emperor Titus has been assassinated, I'm nervous about the safety of the Empire. I hope that the Elder Council have agreed on a worthy potentate, at least not a puppet of those Altmeri Goldenrods." Rahe bit his lip at the thought of the Thalmor. He despised them for turning Elsweyr's government into nothing more than thralls for the Aldmeri Dominion.

From the corner of his cat-like eye, Rahe stared at the pale Argonion. Was this beastfolk a Shadowscale perhaps? It would certainly explain his rather strange and deathly appearance. But this Argonian wore no armour of the Dark Brotherhood, at least not the armour he remembered from the outlaws of Orcrest.

The Argonian approached the Nord's table. "Please tell me you're not Turee-Zel."He said. "Why? Expecting someone not as pale?"He asked. "No, I was expecting a man, not a beast."The Nord responded. "I'd watch your tongue Nord. Unlike my bretheren I am much less conservative about my nature, and I have no issues eviscerating you."Turee-Zel said sitting down and taking a drink from his wine. "Now then, what was it you wanted from me?"Turee-Zel asked. "A band of thieves decided they were going to mooch off of me and my family. Apparantly they're with the thieves guild. And I'm sure you know how hard it is to get them to leave until you've 'paid your debts'."The Nord said. "No, I don't."Turee responded. "Well, I need you to get them out. I don't care what you do with them, just get them to leave."The Nord said. "What do I get in return?"Turee asked. "The hefty sum I was going to give to those thi-" The nord said before getting cut off. "If you're simply going to give me the money you owe them, why not just pay them instead?"Turee asked. "Because they'll keep extorting us. If you deal with them than the problem is solved."The nord said. "Alright. Where d oyou live? I'm open tonight and can easily deal with those thieves tonight."Turee-Zel said.

"The Aldmeri Dominion was once a great and just society... But it has crumbled to cruelty and corruption. I do not advocate for those pompous, yellow skinned airbags, comrade, but I do advocate for the Empire and her good will," he said cheerfully, "Here, have a drink, my furless brother," he smiled pleasantly and passed a mug of ale towards Rahe. He already seemed to have forgotten about the argonian.

J'o Rahe nodded as he took the ale. There was a faint smile on his face, for it was heartwarming to know that a Kinsman shared his opinion on the Dominion. Most others would simply use the Void nights as an excuse to venerate the treacherous Altmer. As he lifted the mug up to his mouth, the Khajiit to a long sip to sate his thirst. There was an unfortunate drawback however: there was no taste in ale, for as Jyggalag's hold tightened upon Rahe in the passing years, it was almost as if the senses that once brought him enjoyment were slowly slipping away...

Rahe placed the mug down, letting out another sigh of pity, accompanied by a small grimace. "I do not dislike the Empire, for I know it is an honorable establishment, but it has been wrought with a horrible cancer, brought on by foreign organizations, and fools such as Ulfric allow their faith distract them from the true enemy." The Khajiit's tone was much akin to a whisper, for this was Stormcloak territory now, and a few Nords would have something to say if they caught a damned Khajiit insulting their lord.

Rahe was still uneasy about the possible Shadowscale in the vicinity. It was obvious something was going down, especially after overhearing mention the Thieves Guild. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any shadowy troubles within Dawnstar.

"Excellent."The nord said satisfied. The nord pulled out a large coin purse, pushing it over to where Turee said. "Where is it that you live?"Turee asked. "I live down by Iron-Breaker mine."The nord said. "Alright. Your thief problem will be dealt with by dawn. To ensure the least amount of danger to your and your family I would suggest making sure they're out by the time I reach your home."Turee said standing up. "Oh, and a tip of advice. Next time you're hiring a mercenary to take on the thieve's guild don't pay them up front. It's entirely possible the less noble sort will simply take the money and run, putting you in worse standing with those thieves."Turee said before heading for the door. After a few short moments the Nord got up and left as well, going to alert his family. The glow from Turee's eyes could be seen glowing under his hood to any who happened to see him approaching the door.

Turee already had plans in his head for dealing with the thieves. He knew he wanted the thieve's guild to know he killed them. He wanted the death of these thieves to be as public and violent as he could make them.

Dmitri shrugged, "I respect Ulfric's beliefs and his cause, but I do not respect him. There is a pompous, self righteous murderer. I don't say this because of what he did to Torygg, no, I know that was mostly fair... Ish... But because of what he did in Markarth, and what he does to other races."

Turee remained outside, waiting for the nord to return with his family. Soon as expected the nord had, with his wife and two children, one boy and one girl. "Again, thank you."The nord said. Turee remained silent as he went down the street to the Nord's house.

"His actions have also plunged Skyrim into an era of chaos. I think the land would have been doomed from the start, if Alduin and his legion of Dragons were not conveniently in their tracks by this so-called Dragonborn." Rahe agreed, still keeping a close eye on the Argonian. If he were to squint, he could see that the scaled being was making it's way down to one of the Nordic homes. The Khajiit could now only curiously wonder of the creature's business so far from home.

By now Turee had arrived at the Nord's house. He pushed on the door, smiling when it opened. He walked in, surprised to find the thieves asleep. "This will be easier than I had anticipated" the Argonian said.

He bent over, seemingly in pain, as a black substance covered him. Wings grew out as the argonians size changed. The black goo erupted with the Argonian having become a vampire lord. Though this vampire lord was different from the others. It was covered in scales. It had a long powerful Argonian tail. It's snout was stretched out, still with fangs jutting from its upper jaw. It's legs were similar to a dragons and it had powerful clawed arms.

Turee roared. The two thieves jolted awake trying to pin point the sound. They froze, with their faces becoming as pale as the snow outside, when they saws Turee. "I would suggest you run" the Argonian vampire hissed. The thieves didn't hesitate, quickly darting out the door. "And now the fun part"Turee said, erupting into a swarm of bats, chasing after the thieves

J'o Rahe's ears pricked up as he heard a powerful roar from afar. Something was definitely amiss, and the Khajiit could not stay idle in this strange situation. He shot up from his chair. "That noise... It sounded horrific... Kinsman, do you think that we had best see what made such a powerful roar?" He asked the fellow opposite, keeping a grip on his blade out of instinct. What it a rogue Dragon had come reign death upon Dawnstar? Rahe would not be prepared for such an encounter.

(Not sure if the rotation got caught somewhere, so I made my reply a bit early.)

Dmitri's ears perked up and he say a little straighter, reaching for the battle axe at his side.
"Maybe..." he agreed and stood up, seeming to have sobered up rather quickly. He slid his crossbow into it's spot on his right shoulder then put his helmet on and went for the door, peering outside.
He spotted a winged shape in the near-distance, but knew it was no dragon. He hissed slightly and began towards the vampire lord.

The bats swarmed passed Dimitri. They reformed into the Turee infront of the thieves. His claws grabbed one of them by the throat, hoisting the man into the air. His jaws soon locked around the thieves arm. Unlike your average Vampire lord, he vaguely resembled a dragon. He had a reptillian snout, with sharp needle-like teeth jutting from both jaws. His claws were reptillian, as were his feet. Most notably he had a long crocodilian tail swishing behind him. The thief his jaws were locked on was struggling, but slowly getting weaker.

Rahe joined the fellow Khajiit down toward the house of the thieves, immediately unsheathing his blade at the moment he found the abomination itself: The Vampire lord himself. J'o Rahe could see that the dragon-like monster had already caught his prey. Whatever the thief did, Rahe knew that he definitely did not deserve to die in such a way. Unable to watch as the Winged beast mauled his prey, Rahe lifted his silver blade into the air, it's descent aiming toward the spawn of Molag Bal.