Episode 25: Necros and Nordics and guilds, oh my!
let the Orc know we're interested but that we aren't strong enough to try it yet
:
"Thank you, Sharn. I'm definitely interested in your proposal. But I don't think I can rush right out and do it just this instant. I think I need to get a bit stronger first."
:
"I have no use for a weak ally. The offer won't be available forever. Once I'm done here I'll go out and do it myself if you haven't already.":
"Done with what?":
"None of your business. Now go away and let me get back to it."check out the fighters guild while we're in town as well
You head next door to the fighter's guild and talk to Eydis Fire-Eye, the local guildhall leader.
:
"Hello. What can I do for you?":
"I was considering joining the guild. What can you tell me about it?":
"We operate under an official charter from the Emperor to regulate and train mercenaries. Anyone wants to hire a merc, they come to us. Want work? Join the guild. It's that simple.":
"Is training limited to members only?":
"No, we'll train anyone who can pay. We give a discount to members though. Membership also gives you access to our barracks for sleeping and temporary storage, as well as to the guild chest, which people drop the occasional odds and ends into. Membership is by examination only, and costs 25 gold per month. Guild chest donations count towards that though, so members can have their fees waived by contributing to the survival of our junior members.":
"What kind of donations?":
"Mostly low end arms and armor. A few of us make healing potions to toss in there too. It's in our best interest to keep new recruits alive. It makes us look bad if you get killed on an assignment. If you want to make a donation, talk to Fasile one level down and she'll write it up for you.":
"What kind of jobs do you usually get?":
"Anything people want mercenaries for. Clearing out monster dens, guard and patrol duty, merchant and caravan escorts...I've got two jobs on my desk right now. East Empire company is looking for a warehouse guard, and some Telvanni wants us to try and track down some escaped slaves."Interesting. You don't recognize either of those as vanilla quests.
:
"What's the pay like?":
"I think you might be getting ahead of yourself, partner. You want in? Great. But you don't carry yourself like a veteran and that fluffy hat you're wearing makes me guess you've never seen a fight in your life. Head downstairs and talk to Hasphat. If he says you can join, give me 25, sign a contract and then we'll talk business.":
"What's the entrance exam like?":
"Just need to prove you can handle yourself in a fight. I don't care if you poke, slash or stab, but dying's not an option. Remember you represent us too."You hear someone walking up the stairs behind you, and Eydis looks over your shoulder. You turn to see a massive Nord wearing mixed fur and chitin armor and carrying an axe as big as your chest on his waist. He looks back at you, then at Eydis, then looks nervously at the ground.
:
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. Go right ahead. I can wait."Apparently he's the strong, quiet type.
:
"Bjorn! Welcome back. Everything taken care of?":
"Yes. I do feel bad for the rats, though. They weren't hurting anyone.":
"According to Miss Thelas, they'd broken into her storeroom and were chewing up her pillows.":
"They were teething! Chewing on pillows would be very good for them.":
"Maybe, but this 100 gold payment is better for you than the pillows were for the rats. Here you go."She hands him some coins.
:
"Thank you."...wait. This guy just turned in a quest. Is he a PC? How would you know if he was? Can npcs do quests too? You rack your brains for something to say, but nothing clever comes to mind.
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"Hi."He glances at you then goes back to looking at the ground.
:
"Hello.":
"Bjorn, was it?"He nods, but doesn't look up.
:
"...yes. Bjorn....Death-Dealer. I'm sorry. I didn't choose the name."Silence reigns as nobody says anything. The conversation obviously isn't going anywhere, so you decide to go for broke.
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"Are you a PC?"He frowns and looks up in confusion.
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"...am I...a what? I don't understand."Eydis folds her arms challengingly and interrupts.
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"Hey. Stop harassing my members. ":
"Umm, sorry.":
"I'm sorry too. I'm sorry. I'm still new at this. I don't know all the words yet. I'm sorry. I'll just be going now."Bjorn backs away and bumps into the wall, turns around abruptly and starts to apologize to that too before he realizes it's a wall, then rushes down the stairs as if embarrassed. You want to give chase, but Eydis is still watching you.
:
"New recruit?":
"Yes, just arrived from Skyrim this morning. Great with an axe, but poor guy's heart isn't really in it.":
"I'll say. ":
"Ehhh...I've seen his type before. It's not as uncommon as you might think. Big, strong guy like that probably grew up breaking things and accidentally hurting people. Never got close to anyone, and always feels like he's walking on eggshells. That's my guess."You're not convinced of that explanation. But you can't think of any suitable reply. Instead you thank Eydis for her time and head downstairs to try to catch Bjorn. Unfortunately you didn't see which way he turned after the corner at the bottom of the stairs. Stepping outside the guild, you see no sign of him. So on the off-chance that he went downstairs instead, you go back inside and look around.
No sign of anyone in the barracks.
And no sign of him in the training room either. Looks like you lost him. But that's Hasphat Antabolis, so you may as well talk to him while you're here.
:
"Hi. You conduct entrance exams?"
:
"Yes, I handle all exams and combat trials. Are you here to join the guild?":
"Maybe later...not now, thanks. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't qualify. But since I'm here, Eydis mentioned that you provide training to non-members. How much and what do you teach?":
"Lessons are one hour, and cost 100 gold for members, or 150 for non-members. I'm a certified combat trainer for all major weapon and armor types, as well as shields, unarmed defense and fighting. Guild admission requires basic knowledge of both one offensive and defensive style.":
"So, for 150 gold you'll teach me the basics of any one style?":
"Yes. Or for example, since you're not a member, if you wanted to meet membership requirements, for 300 gold and in two hours I could teach you basic competency in long blade and heavy armor. Or axes and shields. Or unarmed defense and fist fighting. Anything you want. I only offer introductory lessons though, and honestly you could learn just as much on your own through trial and error in live combat. But if you have the gold, it's would be both faster and much safer to learn it here. ":
"You mentioned combat trials earlier. What are those?":
"They're for internal promotions within the guild. Nothing a non-member needs to worry about, but if you join and want to advance through the ranks, to do that you'll need to defeat conjured monsters in a controlled environment.":
"You summon monsters for rank tests? Like what?":
"Not really allowed to talk about it with non-members. But yes."You thank Hasphat for his time. So far, it seems like every guild operates a bit differently, both from vanilla Morrowind, and from each other. Still one more here in Balmora you'd like to check out before you decide anything though.
Go to the Thieves Guild, tell them you have someone interested in acquiring an item.
If asked, tell them what it is, but do not mention Sharn.
See if the Thieves Guild can offer help if we join them.
Go to the Thieves Guild and let's see if we can join up.
check up on Thieves' guild.
Do not, under any circumstances whatsoever, join the Thieves guild.
Acrobatics is now 19You head to the South Wall cornerclub. Since you know exactly who the local guild hall leader is, you skip the smalltalk and walk straight to Sugar-lips Habasi.
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"Sugar-lips?"
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"Yes? What can Sugar do for you?"The last khajiit you spoke to was wearing clothes that obscured his body shape enough that he mostly just seemed like a regular guy who happened to have a furry head. Everything about Sugar-lips reeks cat. Her body and her disposition, the way her body is slightly crouched as if to pounce, the way her ears are folded back on her head, the adorable accent...you really want to glomp her but from the way she's edging one hand closer to a dagger on her belt, you're pretty sure it would end badly if you tried.
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"I received a letter asking me to join the guild.":
"Oh? Show us this."You slowly take off your backpack and dig through it, trying to be as non-threatening looking as possible. Out of the corner of your eye you see that Sugar-lips never takes her left hand off the hilt of that dagger. Left hand...dagger on left hip. That seems...odd. How would she draw? Shaking your head, you pull out the Thieves Guild letter and hand it to her. She reads over it, visibly looking up at you 2-3 times during the read.
:
"You wish to be toad?":
"You mean, join the guild? Maybe. I was hoping you could tell me more about it first.":
"You are a thief. But not one of us. This is not good. Join us and be thief. This is good. Don't join us and be thief, we kill you. Is good for us. Not so good for you. Or, don't be thief and we won't kill you. It is up to you. But most who come to us can't not be thief, so choose to join.":
"Hmm. Well, when you put it that way. Honestly...I was kind of thinking about becoming a wizard. Stealing is just something I've been doing to get by. If it really came to it, I think I could give it up. Are there any other benefits to joining, besides not being dead?":
"Yes, when you steal, you bring back to us. We buy, is good for you. We take half, is good for us. If you are good thief, is good for all. If you are bad thief, get caught, we help you be free.":
"You do jailbreaks?":
"Yes, we can do this thing. But more bribe than break free. Bribe now, pay us back soon. More fast to pay through steal than wait in jail. This is good. If break free, jail time grow. This is not good.":
"Half seems like a lot. What if I sell to traders rather than the guild?"Her eyes shrink to slits.
:
"Then you are not bad thief, but good corpse.":
"I see. Anything else?":
"Yes, good thief does not hurt or steal from good thief. If you do this, you are bad thief. Don't be bad thief.":
"So...don't hurt or steal from other members. I can steal anything I want that belongs to anyone else, but as a member, anything I steal I have to sell to a guild fence, that will keep half the profit. If I'm a member in good standing and get arrested for stealing, the guild will help me either with a jailbreak or by arranging for a cheap bribe for early release, which I'll then be expected to reimburse.":
"Yes. You wish to be toad?":
"I have another question actually. "tell them you have someone interested in acquiring an item.
If asked, tell them what it is
:
"What if I gave up stealing myself, but needed somebody else steal something for me. Is that something you could arrange?"Her ears shoot forward and her demeanor changes completely. She begins purring, and reaches out and touches your arm. Though you notice she keeps one hand on her dagger while she does this.
:
"...oh, *purr*. Yes, Sugar can help you with this. Tell Sugar, what is it you want us to get for you?":
"I need a specific skull from a tomb.":
"Oh? *purr* tell us more."She walks around you and rubs herself up against your side from behind. It's possible she might be flirting with you. It's difficult to tell. Cats do this same exact thing when they want you to pet them. You consider scratching behind her ears, but think better of it.
:
"I need the skull of Llevule Andrano from the Andrano ancestral tomb just south of Pelagiad.":
"Oh, do you? Hmm. This is not a good task. That tomb has guards. Dead guards that fight. Sugar good for sneak and good for steal. Sugar not so good for fight.":
"So you can't help me?":
"Sugar not say that. Yes, *purr* Sugar can help you. But will not be cheap."She leans her head onto your shoulder, and you can feel the vibrations of her purring through your chest. Unexpectedly she licks your exposed neck with a long, sandpapery cat tongue. It's...unpleasant. You're not sure, but you think you also feel her fangs brushing across you while she licks. It occurs to you that her bite could probably tear out a fairly large chunk from your neck without much effort. You suddenly don't feel so much like glomping her anymore.
:
"How much?":
"Hmm, *purr* 300 and Sugar get this skull for you, *purr*"You're right on the edge of whether it's easier to think of her as a big, dangerous cat that can't decide whether to cuddle with you or eat you, or a girl who's very blatantly trying to use her body to manipulate you, and failing badly. And through it all, she still manages to keep one hand on her dagger while brushing you affectionately with the other. Wait...other hand? Where is her other hand? You immediately reach for your coinpurse to check if she's taken your money. The weight feels about right. You don't think you've been robbed. But you suspect she could have while you were distracted, if she'd wanted to. Sugar-lips laughs and steps away from you.
:
"You are smart one, yes. Sugar knows you don't have the gold to pay her. Your purse is too small. You wish to be toad now?"
Known stats
Level 2
Health 32/41
Armor rating: 1
Attributes (Values in parenthesis are starting values)
21.9 Strength (20)
30.7 Speed (30)
32.1 Agility (30)
30.5 Endurance (30)
41.0 Intelligence (40)
42.6 Personality (40)
51.0 Luck (50)
Skills
19 Acrobatics (0)
10 Athletics (5)
2 Unarmored (0)
17 Speechcraft (10)
6 Mercantile (0)
5 Alchemy (0)
Worn:
* Steel tanto, with scabbard and carrying straps
* Cursed ring of athletics and drain health
* Colovian fur "helm"
* Commoner's shirt
* Commoner's belt
* 'Expensive' pants
* Tennis shoes
* Interior coinpurse, containing 44 gold
Backpack
Main compartment:
* Letter of introduction from Ranis Athrys
* Yellow notepad with 56 pages left
* 1 pen
* Apprentice mortar and pestle
* 1 Standard Restore Health potions
* 1 Greef
* 2 soulgems of uncertain size
* "20% cooler" Rainbow Dash t-shirt,
* Denim pants
* a cellphone and wallet with picture ID and $30 in cash
Small compartment
* 179 gold
* 1 ampoule Pod
* 1 bread
* 7 bungler's bane
* 3 hypha facia
* 1 kwama cuttle
* 11 luminous russula
* 1 rat meat
* 3 saltrice
* 5 spore pod
* 6 violet coprinus
Alchemy Knowledge
ampoule Pod - [1]Restore speed
Bread - [1]Restore Fatigue
bungler's bane - [1]Drain agility
coda flower - [1]Restore luck
hypha facia - [1]Drain
kwama cuttle [1]Restore health
luminous russula [1]Paralysis
rat meat - [1]Poison
saltrice [1]Restore endurance
spore pod - [1]Paralysis
Small Kwama Egg - [1]Restore Fatigue
violet coprinus - [1]Water Walking
What do you do?
Author
Topic: Marooned in Morrowind (FINISHED) (Read 434650 times)