18+ The Corrupted Guardian: Death in the Family

[Blackdoom59]

Out of all the places Garret had to go make deliveries, The Imperial City was the one he'd always try to avoid. He got used to poverty and beggars from his trips to Morrowind, but after Frigus became emperor, things kept getting worse for the imperials. From outside the city, Garret could witness the mighty White-Gold Tower, that once filled Tamriel with it’s perfume. And now, people keep away from it’s sinister stench the best they can. But The Cold Benefactor, didn’t have the luxury of choosing in which city he goes next. Despite the state the city was in, there were some wealthy people in the city. Such was the noble that went by the name of Arnosia Hereanius. A strong and proud advisor of the emperor, spent most of her days in the hovel that was the White-Gold Tower. Garret didn’t like her one bit, but she had coins, and lots of em’. The deal was to be made on a dark alley in the city, somewhere close to The Temple of the One. The coordinates weren’t very clear, and the list of the potions she asked for was huge. But Garret heard that it’s best to stay on her side, for the people that did so walked away rich.

Outside the Imperial City, Garret dismounts his horse and heads on inside, carrying a large chest on his left shoulder. Quite the burden he thought to himself, trying to ignore the stares coming from all around the city as he walked. An armor like his would make him for a mercenary, or a thief, so it made sense that most folk thought of him as one who wanted to test his metal in the arena. However, Garret never was one for fighting, he knew how to fight, he was somewhat proficient at it, but he refuses to do anything if there’s no pay. As he walked he kept thinking if he’s doing the right thing. He had some of his best potions in the chest, and he would give them away. The noble wanted strange things, that coupled together didn’t make sense – potions that would fortify illusion, cure even the worst diseases (including vampirism), fortify speechcraft and then there were a couple of poisons. Nothing lethal though, just some fear and paralysis potions. None of those products were cheap, and the ingredients for most of them were hard to come by. This better be worth my time, he thought as he reached was he thought is the alley in which the meeting would took place. His shoulder started to hurt, carrying such a burden along the Imperial City can do that to a man. The alley was empty, Garret the only soul that could be seen in it. He waited around for a couple of minutes, placing his chest on the ground and stretching his arms. He grabbed the chest once more, thinking of visiting a tavern before returning to the meeting place. Too bad there is no ale in this thing he thought to himself, turning around in order to leave the alley.

As he turned around, he eyed a curious sight. It was her, Arnosia, accompanied by a couple of imperial guards. She wore what was expected of her, fine imperial clothes, with a ribbon around her neck that was clearly of Breton origin. Her boots, without a doubt from Summerset Isles, made a strong, irritating noise as she kept beating her foot to the ground, showing that she’s impatient. Besides her extravagant clothing, she wore a hood on her head, most likely to conceal her identity. The guards however, were armed to teeth, almost like war veterans. They wore heavy plate armor, with large round shields on their back, and razor sharp imperial short swords sheathed. Garret smiled “Glad you could make it, your highness.” He then proceeded bowing, to show respect. Although, what he did was out of sarcasm, trying to lighten up the mood. “You must be the Cold Benefactor then? I hope you live up to your name.” she revealed her face. She had a beautiful portrait, her golden hair was long enough to reach her hips. “See for yourself” said Garret, chuckling, as he opened the chest and leaving the potions to fall on the ground. “What are you doing, fool?” one of the guards hastily yelled, wanting to make a step forward. He was yet stopped by the hand of his employer, who understood Garret’s rather rude gesture. The potions didn’t spill, the glass didn’t break. That was a way of showing the quality of Garret’s work. She smiled, as she inspected one of the potions – the glass wasn’t even scratched. “Fine work, alchemist, you have my thanks. You can leave now”. Garret raised an eyebrow, then proceeded laughing. “Not without my money, Arnosia.” She frowned, and the guards made a step forward getting their weapons out, still leaving a safe distance between themselves and Garret. He threw his chest away, than unsheathed his sword. “Did ya really think I would come here from Skyrim with all this, then I’d leave with just your thanks?”. She made a step back, felling threatened by Garret’s words, coupled with his intimidating stance. “Guards…”

In an instant, both guards charged at Garret. They definitely were trained to react at even the slightest sound of their employer. Garret kicked one of the elixirs, hitting the head of a guard. His helmet fell off, and he took his time to put in back on, confident of his partner’s skills. Garret parried, fully deflecting the sword, then followed up with a swing to the guard’s shield arm while simultaneously kicking his knee in, forcing him to stay crouched. As the guard fell on his knees, Garret turned him around and grabbed his neck, sheathing his sword and placing the imperial’s on his throat. The other guard took a step back, not wanting to do anything stupid. “Septims, or else!” he said, calmly, yet still with an aggressive tone. He was confident of how the situation turned, but his confidence soon turned to despair, as two guards grabbed him from behind, forcing him to release his hold and the short sword. The one that has been strangled by Garret quickly took the sword back and stuck it into Garret’s left leg. Arnosia smiled and nodded, and the other guard bashed Garret’s face in with his shield, knocking him unconscious.

----------------------------------------------------------------

He couldn’t wake up, his body felt tired. Little did Garret knew, but the guards kept kicking his ribs after they knocked him out. He could only catch glimpses of what was going on, with his eyes half-opened and his ears weakened. He could feel two guards carrying him, and in front of him was another guard, but that one was dressed differently. “Another one? This sure is a busy day. What’s he in for?” he asked. One of the men carrying his corpse answered “Assault on a guard, attempt to poisoning a noble.” They opened to door to what seemed to be his cell and threw him in. He hit his head in the ground hard, thus turning unconscious once more.

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

(I am writing this post from Nathan's perspective)
Nathan was relieved that someone more sociable had finally... well that sounded morbid, didn't it? Well he was, none the less. Finally, someone who he could talk to, and hopefully someone who could break the treacherous ice that had taken hold of the room. He still felt bad that the girl was so scared of him, and that he had been unable to put her at ease. He was a bit out off that the newest arrival had failed to answer his inquiry about his name, but it was only to be expected here, he supposed.

"I'm with you there, they aren't making this wait any easier."

Nathan eyeballed the remaining chairs, now noticing just how tired his legs were from standing so long. He was also why he hadn't thought of grabbing a chair sooner.

 

[Skyrimosity]

"Well, I'm doing fine. Except for those two hits. And my leg, which I don't know what's wrong with, though there's probably an entire story behind it--I just can't remember it." the new man chuckled. "I'm glad you asked, though. I have this odd feeling that death awaits us, yet is only inevitable if we don't make friends."

Death always awaits the weak.

"So, what of you three? I'd be delighted to get the story behind those intriguing expressions."

For a moment, nobody said anything. Everyone sort of expected Nathan to say something, him being the most talkative in the area. Finally he said something, of no particular importance and he grabbed a chair and sat down. Guess I'll have to say something. Just to give him some sort of answer.

Belzebub frowned while looking straight at the man. "I'm an Orc. Born on Nirn. Vague questions get you vague answers."

That was as much as Belzebub was willing to respond to the man's questions. It wasn't much, but perhaps the man could be satisfied that Belzebub had answered him at all?

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Gidian did not want to speak. He felt that there was nothing worth saying. This Belzebub seemed to have the same feeling, and Skadi certainly didn't want to do any talking. In fact, she probably wanted to disappear right about now. And so, Nathan attempted to help the newcomer break the ice. He then pulled up a chair, and sat down.

Soon afterwards, the orc, seeming to be after Gidian's own heart, gave a vague answer. Gidian had, at first intended to stay silent. Then he imagined that they would eventually try to get Skadi to talk, and though he himself did not want to speak, it would be much more difficult for her. He began to think about how to answer, when Skadi seemed to read his mind. She got two chairs, pulled them up to the expanding circle of sitters, and gave Gidian a meaningful look. Clever girl. Deciding that this was an opportunity he couldn't afford to miss, he sat down beside Skadi, and said, "I share Belzebub's sentiment." But a look from Skadi warned him to continue. Sighing to himself, he began, "Raised in Skyrim. No clue where I was born." He shot Skadi a suspicious look. He hadn't expected her to be the one directing social interactions, given everything that had happened. Though she hadn't been bashful before all this happened, he hadn't expected this.

 

[Delusional]

Alleras chucked after hearing the minimal responses from both the Orc and Nord. He had known from the beginning that these others had hard shells, though it wasn't like they tried to hide it. It didn't bother Alleras much, as he realized that a vast majority of the inhabitants of the Arena would be very much the same.

"Wonderful." To be honest, Alleras didn't quite know what to say. Usually he would have cracked open a phial of skooma at this point and offered some to the others in perhaps an attempt to warm them up, but unfortunately, his belongings had been stripped from him. However, that didn't stop him from patting all of his secret pockets, hoping the guards had skipped over a phial or two of skooma.

The search was fruitless, and Alleras was about to give up and resign to the silence of the others, but he felt the unmistakable shape of the cylindrical phial hiding beneath one of his front pouches, and he grinned.

"Splendid!" he exclaimed as he reached into his leather cuirass and withdrew a single phial of skooma. He thought he felt more than one phial within the secret pocket, but one would do for now.

"Would anyone like any?" Alleras asked as he reached up to uncork the small phial containing one of Nirn's most delightful substances.

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Gidian opinion of this newest arrival immediately lowered. He was reliant on substance, and that made him weak. His loyalties could be swayed merely with the prospect of more of it, and if he ran out, he became a danger and a nuisance to everyone around him. Gidian immediately answered, "No. And she doesn't either." after he offered the rest of them some of his addiction. Hopefully that was a sign that the presence of skooma wasn't all important to him. Skadi was looking curiously at the substance, and Gidian resolved that he would have to kill the Imperial if it came down to it. The last thing he needed was Skadi falling prey to an addiction. He gave her a warning look, and the Imperial one as well. The look made it clear that he would not tolerate even a single drop of Skooma or Moon Sugar or any other addictive or harmful substance being given to Skadi.

 

[CapObvious]

"Just wait a moment! I'm sure you've-" The cleric begged the two armored men who were dragging her down the dark stone hall. One crushed her arm with his hand as he walked, making the young woman cry out.

"The only thing you can be sure of is that you will regret what you did to the Captain. Now shut up, before you're mouth gets you in even more trouble."

What were they talking about? What had she done? All she could remember was that she was being taken to the captain for questioning. After that, everything was fuzzy.

Her attempt at recollection was broken however, as when they turned the corner, they twisted her arms in such a way that she was sure they had ripped them off.

A tear came into both of her icy eyes as she bit her lip, trying to cope with the pain. She wasn't very durable, so she was rather tender. Pain like this wouldn't be much to a real warrior.

But she was no warrior. She was but a small cleric, with skin that bruised like bananas.

She wished desperately that Do'Vassal were here. If he had seen what they were doing to her, even if she had did whatever they were accusing her of, he would have killed them in moments.

Finally, the guards came to a stop before a door, and began unlocking it. Maere sighed, hoping they were done with their torment.

The guards opened the door and tossed Maere in, locking it tight behind her. Maere rolled on the floor roughly, getting a scrape or two on her hands. They weren't as painful as the still-bleeding knot on the left of her face, or the bruising arm, but the collective pain began to overwhelm her.

She sat up and, after inspecting her wounds and how painful they were, began to cry. She climbed over and sat up against the wall and pulled her legs to her chest, and put her face against her knees. continuing to sob quietly. She finally started to settle down, and she looked up toward the opposite wall. As she did so, she noticed she wasn't alone.

She grew tense. Who were these people that the guards had thrown her in with? Were they going to hurt her?

She could see one of them looking at her, holding a small bottle of what looked like Skooma as if he were sharing with the others. That alone made her nervous. However, there was a girl who looked like she was around Maere's age sitting near them. She looked relatively unharmed.

Was it possible that they were thrown in here unjustly as well?

She didn't go over to them, but instead watched and waited, seeing what they were like before leaping head first into the proverbial monster's maw.

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Gidian was disturbed when a young woman was thrown into the room, looking quite rough. She had several bruises, scrapes, and cuts. His first instinct, ingrained from years ago when he was a more compassionate person, was to get up and help. Not only had that first instinct been desensitized over the years, but he also suspected this girl would not appreciate him even making an attempt to get near her. He recognized the look she had in her eyes. It was a look he had been forced to get used to around Skadi. She didn't take kindly to the male species. Gidian looked back at Skadi, who looked like she couldn't believe her eyes. She was probably thinking something along the lines of, A girl... an actual girl...

After the initial surprise, Skadi rose slowly to her feet, and approached the woman the way one would a cornered animal, trying not to spook her or scare her. She wouldn't appreciate sudden movements. Skadi worked her way closer, attempting to close the distance and comfort a kindred spirit.

 

[Daryl Dixon]

Nathan generally felt tired and uneasy in the room, and rejected the offer of skooma with a light head movement signalling 'No'. He wasn't about to take drugs from a man who's name he did not know.

But after that he saw something that made him sick. A girl no older than him was brutally thrown in the room like she was nothing, and he almost got up to go comfort her until the silent woman did herself. "A female would be better for the job anyway.." He thought to himself, men probably frightened her at this point. He looked around, to the Orc Belzebub, the Nord who was here with the woman who doesn't speak, and then to the man who had offered Skooma. These men underestimated him, he could feel it.

As the girl beside him got up to go comfort the other woman, another man was thrown in. "How many more are to follow.." Nathan thought, this time he stood up and made his way over. The man had hit the ground hard and appeared to be unconscious, although Nathan wasn't sure. All the frustrated and unfriendly acts going on in the room needed to stop, this wasn't the time. Nathan tried to open up with this on a friendly level, he made his way over and crouched beside the man. "Need a hand?" Nathan asked. He didn't see anyone else make a move to help the man, they all looked after themselves. But the silent girl seemed to have gone over to help another female, but that was it.

 

[CapObvious]

Maere watched with curious eyes as two of the men from the opposite wall in the chairs looked to her. Both of them looked to her with an emotion that she couldn't comprehend.

Mostly because it wasn't an emotion she had seen any man exhibit before.

Some sort of sympathy, or was the word compassion? Maere didn't know. What she did know was that someone had gotten up, and was heading her way.

The girl from across the room. She stepped over to Maere warily, like a child to a small dog she doesn't know. Maere studied the girl's eyes, getting a sense of her intentions. She held no ill will for Maere, not that she seemed to be even able to cause said ill will.

When Maere decided the girl was not going to harm her, she stood to her feet and waited for the girl to reach her.

The girl finally stopped before Maere, and both of them looked at each other for a moment. Neither felt inclined to speak, so it seemed as if they were going to just stand and stare forever.

That was until that sympathetic look came across the girl's face, and she opened her arms and stepped forward. Maere, accepting the invitation, embraced the girl, and clutched her tightly to herself.

She wasn't certain if she had made a friend, but it felt nice that someone wanted to hug her instead of beat her for a change. She released the girl after a time, and made a small smile.

Her hand lit up in that safe light white glow, and she touched the throbbing knot on her head, closing the wound and felt the swelling go down slowly but surely. She wasn't sure if she had the strength to heal too much, as the guards took a lot out of her. She just wanted to stop the bleeding.

After closing the open wounds, she raised her hand outward toward the girl, not in a menacing manner, just as a wordless question, harmless as can be:

Do you need some too?

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Skadi watched the girl, somewhat enviously, as she made a golden aura appear in her hand that magically healed all her wounds. Skadi felt she had no skills of her own, and to be able to do something useful instead of feeling so helpless would go a long way for her right now. Then the girl offered her hand, a gesture that seemed to inquire if Skadi needed any healing as well. She was relieved that the girl had not tried to strike up a conversation. Skadi was not sure she would be able to keep herself together if she spoke. She would be fine with never speaking again, it only seemed to cause problems, after all.

Almost immediately Skadi began to refuse, but realized that this was probably more than just a simple favor. The girl probably needed to feel useful and helpful, and needed a variable she could control. It would be therapeutic. She nodded her head, and pointed out several nasty bruises, including a knot on her head where she had accidentally rammed Gidian while in the back of the wagon (she could feel his eyes on her right now, in fact), and several nasty injuries on her hand from repeatedly punching him. She was not sorry. It felt good, though she needed a healing of a different kind right now, one she sensed the new girl's magic could not mend. It could not mend the scars of her past, or her broken family.

Thinking of those two particular topics made Skadi cry, and with an enormous force of will, she held back a sob. But tears escaped her eyes none the less. It had been her fault, after all. All of it. She felt pitiful, and weak. She tried to get a grip, she needed no one but herself to tell her of her value.

 

[CapObvious]

Maere watched as the girl debated whether to accept her help.

At first she swore the girl was going to refuse, but after a moment, the girl showed a series of rather awful bruises on her hands and arms, and a similar knot on the girl's head, though her's seemed to be caused by something other than the wooden club they had knocked her out with.

Tears began to form in the girl's eyes, and Maere couldn't tell if it was from pain she had been hiding or something far deeper.

Maere wasn't one to pry, and wanted to make sure if this girl was to be her friend, that she knew that Maere wasn't going to push.

She raised that golden aura again, taking care of the bruises on her fists first, then on to the arms and legs.

Finally, she placed a healing hand over the rather large lump on the girl's head, almost completely restoring her physical state to the best of her ability. Maere's aura dropped, as her magicka had certainly run dry by now. She would need more time before she could mend again.

Maere didnt' speak, as it seemed to be the girl's way. She nodded with a slight smile, signaling she was finished.

To be honest, she was thankful the girl let her help. Not just because the wound's were nasty, but also because it made Maere feel good.

Like she was useful again.

 

[Blackdoom59]

Garret had begun to recover his consciousness, his right eye opened slightly peeking around the room. It was all blurry, he was still shaken most likely. His arms were still tied to his back, and he could hardly feel or see anything. There was little to no talking coming from the room, the sounds he could hear were muffled. He wasn’t even sure if he was dreaming or actually awake, in his cruel reality. He closed his eye once more, since there was nothing else he could do. But from the cold, dark emptiness that he could only see, a light shined in front of him. A casual voice, but it’s words were warm, and without a doubt true. “Need a hand?”. Garret opened his right eye to witness the sight of a young, imperial male. “Aye…” Garret’s voice was faded, he was most likely not fully recovered. The young man grabbed his shoulder and raised him from the ground, yet not on his feet. Garret avoided looking the man in his eyes, as his head was tilted to the ground. “Much appreciated, lad.” His voice was more sturdy and strong. Garret shook his head then rose on his feet, noticing his hands are still tied to his back, and he was bound tightly, barely able to feel his fingers. He fiddled the leather strips a little bit, figuring that whoever made the knot wasn’t very skilled. After a couple of seconds, he managed to untie himself. Vex used to give me plops for getting in those kinds of situations. If she only knew..

He grabbed the strips that were used to tie his hands and wrapped them around his left leg, which still had a large open wound on it. The strips would do little to ease Garret’s pain, but at least he stopped the bleeding. He placed his palm on his head, noticing a large wound there as well. “Milk-drinking pricked gobplopses…barely bring me in one piece…” he mumbled to himself, but he wouldn’t be surprised if someone else heard him too. He checked his left eye, noticing he still had his eye patch on Those a**holes haven’t taken everything he thought, with a smirk on his face. He started to walk, in order to get himself a chair and sit down, but the more he walked the more it was obvious that his leg was hurting like hell. He got to one of the closest chairs, taking a seat next to an orc. He wasn’t afraid by the little group, despite his current condition. They all seemed nice, that lad helped him get up, a girl who seemed to have the ability, healed another young lass. Then there was another imperial, quite young as well, an orc and what seemed to be a redguard. Garret merely glanced at all of them, not looking to initiate in conversation. He didn’t plan to stay and fight in the arena, but kept looking around for a way he could use to escape. He had escaped his fair share of prisons, an arena couldn’t have been much different. He noticed a shadowmark on the wall in the corner of the room, probably written with chalk. Although it was clearly from long ago, Garret couldn’t distinguish what kind of shadowmark it was. After he inspected the room he turned his head to the group that was there before him, and eyed the redguard, who seemed to be drinking what seemed like skooma. It’s been so long his thirst spoke to him. Garret had run out of drinks since he left Skyrim, but he didn’t have time to look for more. Now he was thrown in the arena, and a drink was far beyond his dreams. Skooma wasn’t exactly his favorite brew, and if he had to drink it he would only prefer the quality ones – like the red water or the sleeping tree sap.

He kept staring at the imperial, who kept drinking from the bottle. He wanted to resist, but his thirst got the best of him “Hey mate..” he addressed the redguard “Could I...have a sip?” It didn’t seem like the redguard had given anyone his skooma, but there was something about him that made him a man to be trusted. Surely he wouldn’t deny Garret a single swing.

 

[Delusional]

“Hey mate.. could I...have a sip?”

It was a Breton who had just been thrown in the room not two minutes prior that finally asked for some skooma. Alleras grinned at the new occupant as he got up from his chair and approached him where he had pulled up a chair and sat in their impromptu circle.

"You absolutely can have a sip, my friend," Alleras said as he handed the phial to the weary Breton. He was in rough shape, and Alleras could tell he needed a hit. Whether it was a natural trait from dealing in drugs, or just a gift Alleras had didn't matter. "My drugs are always available to share."

He paused for a moment, frowning in thought. "That is, when I have all my drugs. Right now I have a handful of phials the guards didn't seem to catch. Once we get back outside..." Alleras cut off, brow furrowed, thinking momentarily before looking up to the others.

"Outside..." he mumbled, pacing slowly back and forth behind his chair, rubbing his chin and stubbly goatee in thought. Alleras never truly intended to escape... only if the opportunity presented himself would he have honestly tried. The world was a nasty place, and Alleras would have been perfectly content with a life in the Arena as long as there were drugs available. He stopped pacing and looked back to the group. "I assume you guys plan on escaping, right?"

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

The Breton had been in the room not two minutes before asking for a drink of skooma. Hopefully he didn't make a habit of it, as the redguard seemed more than happy to oblige. The last thing they needed was drugs floating around. He looked at Skadi out of the corner of his eye, resolving that she would not be attaining any addictions on his watch. It was at this moment that the Redguard brung up escape, and Gidian suppressed a wince, struggling not to react. He scanned the faces of everyone in the room to see how they'd react, and also looked at the guard relaxing in a chair at one corner of the room to see if he reacted. Satisfied that the guard hadn't noticed, Gidian considered what he'd seen on the faces of those around him. The orc looked confident, and he expected the orc was indifferent to the situation. He would not imagine anyone besting him in combat, but then he had never seen Arena Champion Talio in action. The young imperial who Gidian sensed would be a valuable in things of a diplomatic nature, but largely ignorant to the ways of the underground, had escape written all over his face. Of course I was planning to escape, the look said. Glad I finally found someone willing to try, the look said. The redguard looked slightly confused, as if he hadn't expected to bring up escape. The newcomer who had been unconscious did a very good job of containing his reaction, and Gidian immediately suspected him as one familiar with the underground world. Giving nothing away while taking everything in. He was likely a thief, or just a good liar. Gidian looked to the two girls, the newest one seeming to get along well with Skadi had lit up with hope at the mention of escape. And the feeling had spread over Skadi, as if contagious. He looked into Skadi's eyes, and saw a fierce hope there, and thought, enough hope to drown in. He forced himself to look away. He then gestured stealthily to the sleeping guard in the corner, and said quietly, "Yes." In that one word, he felt that he had done more then just accept that he was going to try and escape, he had dared to hope. The lives of his family counted on this, after all.

 

[Blackdoom59]

"You absolutely can have a sip, my friend, my drugs are always available to share."

And so the redguard offered the phial to Garret, half empty. Garret grinned, the redguard seemed generous, both him and the other imperial could become good friends. They all sat around in a circle, silent, probably awaiting someone to say something. Garret would have initiated a conversation, if his condition was any better, but his vision was still blurry, his head still felt dizzy, and his wound wasn’t getting any better. He positioned his eyepatch so it would apply pressure on the wound on his head, but as he did so his teeth clenched without his will. It was a serious cut, probably worse than the one on his leg. He turned his head and looked at the girl with white hair. Without any potions on him, or ingredients to make some, his wounds would just get worse and worse, and he could get sick. A cleric was exactly what he needed. In an instant, he turned his head around, ashamed of himself. He had forgotten that he didn’t have his hood, the girl probably noticed him gazing at her.

Then he tilted his head down, on the bottle of skooma. It’s been long since he ever did drugs, it wasn’t exactly a pleasure of his. He couldn’t allow the substance to affect him too much, for as he well knew, Skooma had various side effects. He took a deep breath, and then proceeded to drink from the phial, probably more than he had to. He offered the almost empty bottle back to the redguard, nodding his head as a way of thanking him. Garret kept wondering if the redguard would notice his way of drinking. The way he held his breath before drinking meant that he didn’t want to get affected too much. If the redguard really was an addict, than he might have noticed, and he might not liked it.

His thirst seemed to be quenched, but his wounds weren’t. With his head tilted down, and lost in thoughts, Garret merely awaited for someone to say something, or for them to be sent in the Arena. "I assume you guys plan on escaping, right?" the redguard asked, addressing the entire group. Garret wasn’t foolish, there was a guard in the room with them, he could have overheard the redguard. Garret did his best to not answer, keeping his head down and not moving his eyes.

An escape wouldn’t have been bad, but they had little chance of doing it – the arena was unlike most prisons Garret ever visited. The redguard could mean many things – the group could either grab weapons and fight their way out – which seemed like a bad idea overall, with how fortified the entire prison was. Another possibility was that they could slip out – but that seemed close to impossible. The guards were everywhere, watching their every move. He didn’t knew what to expect, in his current condition, Garret’s judgement was clouded.

A quiet voice from the circle could be heard, giving a short but true answer "Yes."

Garret tilted his head back up and took a look at the man who replied. He had dark brown, quite long, unkept hair. His overall figure seemed intimidating, Garret could see the scar on his left cheek. He quickly reminded Garret of someone, from the guild, most likely. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but Garret could make the resemblance, this lad looked a lot like one of the thieves who took contracts quite often, only he was a little taller, and fairly more mature. A name crossed his mind, that he immediately attached to the picture. He turned his head in the corner of the room once more, to see the white chalk on the wall. It looked like a shadowmark, but it was so old, one could barely tell what it was. Garret’s best guest was an “escape” shadowmark, but it could also be one of the others, or nothing overall. The arena was recently rebuilt, if the room they stood in was part of the old arena, that could in fact be a shadowmark, but if it was from the new constructions, chances were it was nothing but chalk.


Garret turned his head around to the imperial that agreed to an escape, and spoke silently, with a slight smirk on his face “You saw it too, didn’t ya, Gidian?”

 

[The Honorable Gidian Diva of Sass]

Gidian withheld his surprise, with some effort. And his surprise had just enough time to change into anger. He had been right, the newcomer was a thief. A thief from the Skyrim Chapter of the guild. Gidian had vaguely noticed the shadowmark, but hadn't actively registered it. He hadn't recognized the newcomer immediately either, because Gidian tried his best to forget his time with the thieves. It had been born of necessity, and he wanted to put it behind him. He resented that a ghost from his past had resurfaced to reopen old scars.

Gidian got to his feet, name's being tossed around taking on ill humor with him, and was about to say something. But before he could, A crowd of guards burst into the room, forcing everyone on their feet and out of chairs, and forcing everyone to stand in a shoulder to shoulder style line, though there was room in between everyone, before the large table. Gidian jerked his arm away from the guard, seething, and was about to lash out when he got control of himself. It would do no good now, and he would only get himself killed. His family needed him alive. Although he would never admit he was doing any of this for Skadi, as he resented her and her sister and her father for this predicament, he was. It hadn't been all due to her older sister bothering him day in and day out, he'd wanted to help Skadi. And he couldn't imagine leaving her to her own devices in a place like this.

The line seemed to have been formed at random, and Gidian ended up on Skadi's left and Belzebub's right. The new girl was standing on the other end of Skadi. than, everyone else was standing on the other side of the new girl. Belzebub was at the end on his side. Once the guards were sure the room was secure, they backed off and stood at attention as the evaluators entered the room, some seeming to have a sort of official air to them, others being arena veterans that had gotten to a relatively late age. Then, a horde of people crowded into the room, the wealthy betters who had afforded a fee to attend these evaluations, along with team leaders from the arena, looking to recruit new fighters. After everyone had more or less settled down after a loud mouthed guard called for silence, the evaluators asked everyone's name, in no particular order. Gidian was the first to answer, partly because his name had already been spoken out loud by the thief, and partly because he knew Skadi did not want to talk, and needed a fake name established. "Gidian," he gestured to himself, and then to Skadi, "Spero."

 

[CapObvious]

Maere was caught off guard as the door opened and they were rounded up in a line across from the table. From the looks of it, the guard was caught off guard as well, as one of the veterans who were passing by him kicked his boot and caused him to leap out of his chair in surprise.

Maere normally would have giggled about something like that. Silly moments like that were commonplace with Do'Vassal and the others, as they all were rather laid back, despite their desire to remain strong when in sight of potential clients.

But this was nothing like those days.

One of the men who had sat at the table quieted down the others, and asked that everyone speak their name. Maere thought this would be a perfect opportunity to figure out who these people were. She had heard the last man to enter call one Gidian, but she wasn't sure who he was talking to.

The silence was broken by one of the men who had noticed her arrival with sympathetic stares.

"Gidian," He declared, before pointing to the girl between them. "Spero."

So her new friend was named Spero? She liked that name, it was quite airy, and pretty. She almost wished she could have come up with a name like that when she had to name herself.

Not letting herself dwell on the past, she looked to the man who had spoken from the table. "Maere."

 

[Skyrimosity]

Belzebub was not too happy to have a Skooma user in the room. In fact, with all those secret pouches and phials, Belzebub could tell this man was addicted to Skooma. Not too surprising, seeing how he had acted. Belzebub was also somewhat upset when the newest arrival took a long sip of Skooma, though he may have just gone through a lot and needed something to help calm his nerves.

Skooma users... not a good edition if we will escape. The one is certainly addicted. But Skooma definitely affects the mind and reflexes so having skooma users with us will not be good no matter how often its used.

Then Belzebub was surprised. The new man looked at the Imperial whom Belzebub had first met and called him Gidian.

They know each other?

Before he could think much, guards, warriors, and betters burst into the room. The guards came first and forced them into a line where Belzebub stood on the far left, next to Gidian. Once the guards were sure it was safe, the warriors and betters came in. The murmur that had started was silenced by a guard. It was then that they demanded all in the group told their names.

The man whom Belzebub had first met spoke first. "Gidian," He declared, before pointing to the girl to the right of him. "Spero."

Right after that, the girl whom had befriended Spero gave her name. "Maere."

Might as well just tell them my name.

"Belzebub."

Now, apparently, they didn't get many Orcs in this arena because one of the betters in the back asked "What kind of a name is that?"

"One your mother knew you'd be too weak and corrupt to take."

A guard approached, drawing his sword and putting it near Belzebub's throat. "Enough of that, Orc." Belzebub grunted at the man, and nodded. The guard walked back to where he was and told the others to continue.

 

[Delusional]

The new occupant of the room, the one who had actually asked for a sip of skooma, had drained almost all the skooma that was left in the phial. When he handed the near-empty phial back to Alleras, wiping his mouth with his sleeve and nodding in thanks, the Redguard grinned.

"Glad I could help satisfy your thirst, friend!" Alleras said, laughing.

Soon after, a contingent of guards burst through the door and ordered everyone to line up. Alleras slipped the skooma bottle back into his leather armor before finding a place in line. Eventually another group of people entered the room, this group exponentially larger than the squadron of guards. This group, made up of what appeared to be wealthy nobles and arena veterans, took places at the tables and chairs that sparsely populated the room. After this larger group was settled in, they asked for the names of the prisoners.

First it was the Nord who spoke, who revealed himself to be Gidian and the girl he was with to be Spero. Following the Nord Gidian came the small, shy whisper of Maere, the girl who had healing powers. After her tiny whisper, the hardass Orc introduced himself as Belzebub. Silence resumed after the Orc was threatened by a guard; that's when Alleras felt it was his turn.

"Hello, hello everyone. How is everybody doing today? I assume the weather is nice outside, but I really have no idea. Is it sunny?" Alleras grinned as he spoke, hurrying his words as a guard stepped forward in a threatening manner. "Anyways, my name is Alleras. You can call me Alleras, but the nickname I've gotten over the years is 'The Sphinx,' so if you want to call me that, I'm perfectly fine with it."

Alleras would have continued further, but he was stopped by the angry reaction of a guard. "Shut up, ya fool!" he yelled as he approached Alleras and punched him across the face. Alleras took the hit, and looked back at the guard while cupping a hand under his now-bleeding nose with a gleam in his eye and, of course, a grin.