User:Ninja Hinder/DotON part 1

Ocheeva

Teinaava

Mraaj-Dar

Vicente

Gogron!

[What] Tei' Emm[looks like]

Marie!

Valen Dreth

Hinder!

The Diary of the Outcast Ninja

I thought long and hard for that title. All I can do is think, and sleep in this messy lockup. Let me start from the beginning. I was a regular teenager, go to a rich and noble school by day, and learned how to be a Ninja at night. You see, my Dad was from a long line of honorable Ninjas, or Holy Assassins (oxymoron, dad!) aligned with Talos, and all those deer droppings they call the Nine. I never liked the Nine from the start, but I did find the skill I was learning useful to hit up a few houses on my way to Ninja school, or Caius Cosade's school for the Holy Talos Serving Assassins. It was right outside the IC, on the shores of Lake Rummarre.

Well, on my 21st birthday, I hit up my 5th house. I fenced the goods with the Nord I knew who hangs out behind Edgar's shop, and used the money I 'earned' to drop into The Feed Bag to have my first drink. My dad highly un-recommends drinking, because it 'damages your good sense' but what does he know, last time I saw him fight, a mudcrab knocked his wind out! I had to grab the thing off him and toss it into the lake. Now THAT was an interesting fishing trip. Anyways, I popped in, not knowing that Jair had relieved me of my gold right after I left my meeting with that anonymous Nord. That's when everything went wrong.

Well, the night went off without a hitch, sure, I think I remember some rude stares. I mean, who wouldn't look strangely at a famous, Talos worshipping, nobleman's son partying and making a ruckus all through the night? But hey, they were drinking too. Anyways, I left. wait, tried to leave at around one, when all the people to harrass were gone. After drinking 3 meads, a beer and somebody elses cup of Surilie brothers, You'd think I'd be surprised to be pulled back into the bar.

I began to throw some punches, and drew out my dagger. The last think I remember was the Dunmer man saying, Assault, Assault! By the Nine Divines, what were you thinking!?" The I felt him hit me over the head with a mug or cup of some kind.

I woke up here! In this beautiful underground prison. The best on Nirn, they say. Impossible to escape, they say. Well, it turns out that Jair had reported me to the legion, and told them about that Nord. They found the Nord and locked him up in the other wing of the prison. He cracked like an egg, and told the Jailor on duty everything about my theiving past. So my bounty, in turn was 450, and my tab was 10. My father didn't set me free, but agreed to let me rot in jail for my 45-day sentence. Of course, that wasn't so bad, but my hate of my father, and the Nine, and all things good grew.

I got out of that horrible place. I immediately went to Jair, who was at the Bloated Float, and attempted to kill him. I was seeing red, and whoever I saw got a couple of swipes from my dagger. I'm pretty sure Jair will never breath again. I got yet another sentence, this time...10 years. I write this using scraps of parchment I found under the table, presumably smuggled in and hidden for the last prisoner to reside in this cell.

6th piece of parchment I only dream of knowing what day it is, not that it'll matter in the end. I will probably be executed. 1-2 murders and at least 7 assaults. Oh, there goes Dreth again. Skooma-head. Probably got it from that smuggler. There he goes again. "I'm a piece of human trash.", "Special treatment." "Going to die in here, you're going to die.", and one evil laugh. You've got to hand it to him, the guy hasn't lost his sense of humor and he's been locked up since I was in elementary school. I'll try to copy what is being said.

"Still writing on those parchments? At this pace it will take another week, and you'll run out of space. then it will be you, and me!" "Shut up Dreth, I'm sure that drugrunner can get me some. What should I pay him with?" "Every Skooma bottle he gives me I give him 100 gold after I get out of the slammer. I owe him about 10400 septims." He said with a crazed smile. "But this wing is death row..." at this his grin got wider. "He doesn't know that."

"Well, when does he come?" I asked. "About once a month, that's how I keep track of time." He answered, sipping more Skooma. "Well, when was the last time he came?" He thought hard, and said, "A ways ago, I'm running out of Skooma." "Good, I can 'buy' some paper and more ink from the guy." Dreth shook his head. "I'll pay him 1000 more to ignore you."

"I'll pay him 2000 to give me some." He shook his head again. "He won't believe you. 2000 for parchment and an inkwell? He'll believe me because I've been buying off him for 8 or so years." Actually more, drug-head. (but I didn't actually say that.) If I ever get the chance, that sucker will go down.

Well, It's darn destitute down here. I felt like writing because I was tired of kicking the door. It has been more months now, because the smuggler has visited three more times. He has ignored me. I wish there was someway out of this deathtrap. That gives me an idea! I know this'll sound desperate, but I'm going to try and search for an exit, like some sort of secret passage.

Later, much later I found a passage!!!! I can't believe my luck! I was feeling up every brick along a wall, and one felt unstable. I tried to pull it out, then couldn't, so I pushed it, and the wall next to me came down! I wish there was some sort of device to make a still preservation of Valen's look when he saw the wall go down. He had spent the last hour making fun of me for looking for a passage like a "Crazy prisoner." He's one to talk.

I decided not to bother him about it, best to just pack up my mug, my plate and go. I better hurry, I hear people comming in! I ran through the passageway, which looked sort of like an Ayleid ruin. I got to a dead end, where red-robed stangers attacked me! I was doing a good job evading them, but I got hit by their hard maces a couple times since my skills were rusty. Soon though, I was untouchable.

I wasn't used to maces, but I did a backflip kick and disarmed one of the four red-robes. The only thing I like my father for was teaching me that move. Sometimes I even wonder if I should thank him for making me born. Well, I'm not going to go all Alperion philosophy on you, so I'll get back to the fight. I grabbed the mace before the poor unarmed guy got to it, and smashed his face in. Wearing no armor, it was pretty easy to kill him, in fact, none of these guys had armor. I wonder what was going on.

Now I was upright, my mace now outside of the crushed in facial cavity. One of them lunged at me, pulling a dagger out of a hidden pocket. I quickly sidestepped, grabbed hold of his right arm, and broke it by holding it behind his back and pulling. So now I had a guy with no recognizable face, and one sprawling on the floor in pain. I relieved him of his dagger, and with the dagger, I relieved him of his pain.

I turned around in time to see a mace coming towards my head at 40 miles an hour. I ducked, and gave that evil red-robe a sever leg stabbing with my dagger. Blood was gushing out of him, and I threw his mace at the last threat. Amazingly, the man jumped over it, and then grabbed it. Two maces. Great.

"You think you're Holy Ninja moves will best me?" He said menacingly. He sounded Dunmer, his accent of Azura's coast descent. I took note of his stance. Medium build, lefty, about 5' 11 I fake charged, he went into a defensive stance. I jumped high, over his head, actually. He attempted to swat me with his right hand. I grabbed the mace in mid-air out of his hand and chucked it.

I then jumped on his head, which shattered his neck. He lived, amazingly, struggling to breath, he collapsed, like under a permanent paralyze spell. I felt kinda bad for him, and took him out quick and painless. Well, there's one crisis averted, but I'm in a dead end with people who are probably the guard chasing after me. I noticed a damaged wall, and kicked it in.

The walls fell down, kicking up a lot of dust, when it cleared, I peered in to a dark cave. The footsteps were growing louder; I ducked in. I was met by the welcoming committee of two rats. One jumped on me, and I snapped its neck, another attempted to jump on me but I cut a big hole through it. I rushed through that little cave, killing everything that came in my way. 16 rats and one zombie. Don't ask how it got down there, I don't know.

One goblin tribe massacre later, I was back in the Ayleid ruin type part. There I saw 3 blades and...Holy Goblin turds! the Emperor! I dropped down. One of the bodyguards said, "A prisoner, how did he get down here!? Let's kill him, he's probably working with the assassins!"

I was about to be eviscerated by 3 of the most highly trained warriors on Nirn. Luckily, the Emperor said no, and I was innocent, and he has seen me, and has studied the stars. He was probably THERE when the Daedra left Mundus and made the stars! I decided to follow along with them, if only to save my skin. We continued along until we reached another dead end. Okay, maybe this is the moment when it all goes wrong.

But one red-robe walks in. He doesn't have a hood on. A High Elf with a mane hairdo. "Hello, my name's Harrow, I'll be your guide on this trip to doom." One of the blades rushed him, but was repelled by a paralyze spell. "In due time, child, in due time."

He summoned a Dremora Xivilai, what Caius calls Oblivion's Flagship. I ducked into the shadows, but realized it could smell me, so I scaled a wall, and hung there. It was massacre. The paralyzed blade, obviously the captain, got killed, then the beast crushed another blade with it's hammer-like hands. The demon was now charging the Emperor. I had to act. I jumped down behind Harrow, too caught up with watching his pet kill everything.

I drove my dagger into his heart, and twisted. He began to quickly die, and the beast began to disappear, but not before scoring a killshot with the Emperor. This began a chain of supernatural events that can only be called the Oblivion Crisis. Basically, after about a week, gates which spawned the monsters popped up everywhere and and began to destroy the world. Cyrodiil was no longer a civilized, safe haven. I used Harrow's dead body as a battering ram, and opened a locked gate. I then stepped down a manhole, into the sewers.

Man, this place really stunk. The famous Imperial Sewers, has to be capitilized because it has to do with the Empire. 7 out of the 8 known races of man-like things hate the Empire. I found my way out after giving a couple goblins some scratches. Daylight. It almost burned, but, this will sound stupid, the good kind of burning.

The Second Diary of the Outcast Ninja

I stepped out into daylight, ahead of me was Lake Rumarre, an Ayleid ruin on the opposite bank. To my left was more lake, and possibly another ruin perched on a cliff, ways away. To my right was a shallow pool, rocks sticking up out of it. In front of me was an Argonian, fishing on an abandoned dock. I snuck up to him.

He was silently praying to some god, probably for a decent catch. I heard the name 'Aquas,' barely audible. Is decided to slit the lizard's throat, and see if he had any goods on him. I silently pulled out the dagger that I got from the underground passage, ready to make my kill. He stopped me.

"I wouldn't do that, I am a Highly trained Agent, A dark one, and you haven't completed you're training." Three questions raced to the front of my mind, pushing past others that were creeping up. "How did you see me, how do you know i'm not fully trained, and how did you know my intentions?" He answered quickly, "I saw your reflection in the water, I know who your dad is, in fact, we are enemies, and I've read the couriers released about you. You were scheduled to die tommorrow, how did you escape?"

"Long story, you'll read about it in the news. Why are you fishing if you're a dark Agent?" He thought about answering, but I guess realized something, and answered, "I am Looks-for-Fish, a high ranking member for the Dark Brotherhood, surely you've heard of us?" I nodded, and added, "That means you do drop-off contracts, and live off the land?" He was surprised, "You sure study your enemies, or should I say, allies now. I can make you become a member, my apprentice, and follow me, killing poor souls and living off the land, using the money to get really drunk." I was in. I told him I had to do something first, though.

You see, I wanted to become a vampire, and I read that Memorial Cave, an old burial hole was recently taken over by vampires. I wanted to get bitten by one, to help me with my skills. I heard that vampires are very skilled assassins and theives, with the strength of 20 men, and the willpower to move a mountain, I wanted in bad. So I set off across the lake to the dark cave, where destiny was to be made.

It was sunset when I reached the cave. I ducked in, and lit my torch using the fire spell Caius taught me, such a good old man, if only he were evil. A few steps inside, I noted a corpse hanging upside down from barbwire. These vampires sure know their home decor.

I walked through the dimly lit tunnel, focusing on where the best vampire chokepoints would be, and whether there could be a sentry there. There was one, a Warrior. We engaged in battle! He charged towards me, and I nimbly rolled out of the way.

"You can't touch me, you dumb Orc!!" I yelled. He was in a berserk state, "I will get you, wring your neck, and drink your worthless blood!!!" I sidestepped him, and then dodged a lunge. "Bite me!" I yelled. He obeyed. He bit me, and began to suck hard. I quickly beheaded him.

Ah, Oblivion! All of the vampires must've smelled my blood, because I heard them running towards me. I ran towards the exit, but they were much faster, boosted by their dark gift. I was not yet a vampire. I was at the entrance when they were upon me. I struggled to fight back, burning one with my torch, knocking another out with my foot, but they were quickly gaining the advantage. Then I saw my salvation. Looks-for-fish!

Looks-for-Fish was wearing a black robe. I ran behind him, ducking behind a rock, head sticking out enough to see the whole thing. He dodged a vampire's bite, pull out a potion, plopping the cork off and sidestepping another attack. He chugged the potion while casting a fire spell that incinerated a night hunter. He then pulled a string off his cloak and it fell down, revealing 6 Fine Steel Daggers, and one Glass. He pulled out 3 steel ones, and cut down a rogue type vampire.

There were 5 left, but one, a Dunmer, wasn't fighting. It was like he was waiting for his friends to go down. Looks-for-Fish dropped his daggers, pulling out the glass one and throwing it with great accuracy into one more foul creature's head. 4 left. He nimbly evaded a swing from a warhammer, and plunged a dagger through the swinger's heart. he then jumped up on the wall, and stayed there. I had 3 Night Fiends against me.

I rushed out, picking a dagger up and jamming it into one unlucky undead's side, the blood gushing out. The next one was a mage. I dodged a few spells, and cast Invisibility. I then grabbed a fine steel dagger, and put my iron one in between the poor guy's eyes. Only the Dunmer one was left, very powerful, by the looks of it.

Looks-for-Fish jumped down, as the Patron walked up. He said coolly "I am the vampire patron Daruke, former leader of the Deadheart clan, in which I am the only survivor, since we got wiped out by the Voidshadow clan in the second era. I would like to join with you, forming a bond, or a clan called Dreadspawn."

Quite a lot to munch over lunch, don't you think? Usually vampires who have gone 4 days without feeding on blood are idiotic blood-crazed monsters, but 500 (at least) years? He was talking like a nobleman! I said, "Looks-for-Fish, he would be a great contribution to our team." The Argonian nodded saying, "Call me Tei' Emm, and I agree, but we can't trust him." I begged Tei' Emm, dropping on my knees and such. He finally accepted. I smiled at Daruke. The argonian flung his dagger out of it's sheath, it's point to the Dunmer's neck. "You make one wrong move, and this blade shall be through your throat and you shall be resting on the bottom of the sea, being eating alive by the ones you enslaved!"

"Hinder, where did you get that lizard? I don't remember any pet stores in the Market District, is it new?" And so began their lifelong enemy-ship. Tei' Emm trying to prove that you didn't need to be a vampire, and Daruke trying to vouch for the greatness of the Night Hunters. I knew they both would come in handy, and we began to head to Cheydinhal so Daruke and I could become members of the Dark Brotherhood, and fight back against the cruel empire, that had abandoned, and jailed us all at one point.

Daruke transformed into a bat, and scouted a head. I did not yet have my powers, but I wish I could join him. I walked by Tei' Emm, who was studying the stars for a route to Cheydinhal. I tried to make conversation. "What's the Dark Brotherhood like?" He mulled over it, then said, "It's alright, I do it for the money, but almost everyone in there is a Sithis-worshiping freak job, obsessed with killing. I don't enjoy killing much, and I will never kill an Argonian, even if I have to face the wrath of Sithis. I met a girl at the Sanctuary that's not like the others, just in it because it's the only job she can do well. Her name is Antoinetta Marie." Hmm, a Breton name. "Don't you think Bretons are a little out of your league?" He stared at me, "Well aren't you racist. Daruke probably is. Don't become like him. You're a good kid, not necessarily bad, you just hate the Empire and it's beliefs. That piece of garbage flying ahead of us is pure evil."

I told Tei' Emm that I had been bitten.

The Third Diary of the Outcast Ninja

Okay, I managed to find more paper in Cheydinhal, and I'm sure you want to know how my Argonian friend reacted.

Well, a series of emotions played over his face. Confusion, Surprise, Despair, Panic, the wheel of fortune stopped on Anger. "You did what!? How!? We need to get you to the healers, lest you become a monster like Daruke!" I didn't react to this well, saying, rather loudly, "What if I WANT to become a monster like Daruke!?" He was about to scream something at me, but then took a breather, and calmed down. "I know I've known you 2 more minutes then that fiend, but you need to trust me. Eternal life can be horrendous, and the only way to cure vampirism is death, a painful one, probably.

I nodded, and he added, "It's your choice, darkness eternal, or a real life." I thought about it for an hour on our journey, and came up with an answer. "I will agree to be cured, since I can get bitten again if I really want it." He seemed totally excited, saying "This is great! Telaendril is an alchemist, and probably has a potion to help you out. Let's go!" He began to jog towards Cheydinhal.

We noticed Daruke sweep in and transform to a human, and run alongside us. "Cheydinhal up ahead, two guards and a stable hand guarding the entrance, any ideas?" I thought about it. "We should be able to psych out the stable hand, or at least distract him by making the horses go crazy." I remembered my frenzy spell. I then added, The guards would investigate, too, if somebody gives me a bow and arrows, I can knock em' out. Daruke handed me his crossbow, with 14 bolts. "Got it from Morrowind, have to make the bolts myself." A caring thing to do.

We slowed down as we saw the bulwark amidst the darkness. The cold winds penetrated my crappy clothes once more. Tei' Emm was in his special Dark Brotherhood robes, having put them on before that fateful battle in the cave. Daruke was in some very old clothes, but he didn't look cold, to me. I saw the guards standing at their posts. Tei' Emm signaled Daruke, and he became a wolf and snuck into the horse enclosure, jumping over the fence. That sure spooked em. I quickly aimed the nice crossbow, still in wonderful condition. How long ago did Daruke say he left Morrowind? 600 years?

One of the guards, went to investigate, while the stable hand ran inside. Tei' Emm already had his glass dagger in hand when I signaled him, and he charged towards the guard, practically invisible in his black clothing. I plugged the investigating guard in the back, breaking his spinal cord in 3 places, paralyzed from the lungs down.

By now the last guard was pretty alert. He wasn't alert enough to see me, or Tei' Emm, creeping up on him. Next to the gate, the Argonian stopped, bracing himself. He then sprung out from the shadows, and slit the guards neck, kicking him in the groin in one fluid motion. He would die in pain. The wolf came back, its lips crimson, and transformed back into our companion. "Okay, lets be sneaky about this." We all snuck into the city, opening the gate one foot to squeeze through. We followed our Dark Brotherhood Silencer to a house with a boarded up door. Abandoned?

We stepped inside, no longer feeling the need to sneak, I stood up like a normal human. We proceeded into the basement, and past a strange door. There it was. An underground sanctuary, built like a fort. I saw two Argonians that looked awfully alike, swerve their heads at Tei' Emm, and then Daruke and I.

"What!? You fool! Bringing to non-members into our home!?" The female one yelled. This drew the attention of everyone in here, as they shuffled in and gawked at us.

Tei' Emm put his hands up, and I noticed there was an Altmer with the bowstring pulled back on an ebony bow across the room. I put my hands up, too. Daruke just snarled. The Argonian lady walked up to Tei' Emm. "You better have a good reason for this." He said, calmly. "I am higher rank than you all, Lucien Lachance's silencer. I wouldn't recommend killing me, besides, having them down here isn't against the five tenets." Good point, I thought, knowing tenets were a kind of rule.

I spoke out, and the Altmer pointed the bow at me. "We, we, want to, umm.. Join you." Tei' Emm nodded, saying, "I want them to be my apprentices, and do contracts with me." An old vampire hobbled in, and, upon analyzing me completely, said, "I'll let them join." Tei' Emm and I put our hands down, as the Altmer put her bow down. She introduced everyone, "I'm Telaendril, a bit of a healer, you might say. That Khajiiti over there is Mraaj-Dar." Mraaj scowled at Tei' Emm, then smiled at Daruke and I.

"These twin Argonians are Ocheeva, and Teinaava." They nodded. "This beefy, heroic Orc right here is Gogron, and this Breton is Antoinetta Marie, everybody calls her Marie" Antoinetta Marie. Tei' Emm's girlfriend. Man, she was a cutie. "And the vampire?" I said, for lack of a better word. "I am Vicente Valtieri." I nodded, and then Telaendril showed us around the sanctuary.

This room we were in was like a main hall, a small library, plenty of furniture. Then across the hall was Ocheeva's room, and under that was Vicente's. To the left of the entrance was a training room, stocked with armor, weapons, poisons, and targets/dummies to hit. To the left of the entrance was the living area, basically a dining hall and plenty of beds, a chest for each. It also had an awesome little rat named Schemer. I wonder how he completed his contracts...

Tei' Emm talked to Telaendril about me getting bitten at the end of the tour, while I rested on my new bed, tired from the run and whatnot. It's hard to run and walk for that long after not exercising for years. I think I was 24 now. I got Shrouded armor, which was basically really good light armor, and it was insulated, too. I slept in my pants.

I was awoken at 4 am, smelling smoke. Telaendril was mixing ingredients at the table, most likely trying to find a cure for me. I had met her once, but she pulled an all-nighter for me. Now this was family! I noted Marie sleeping next to me, like an angel in the darkness. Tei' Emm was sleeping close by her. I wonder if he was awake.

I remembered a girl, Methredhel was her name. She was a Bosmer. We went to Ninja School together, and we were great friends. Truth be told, I was developing a crush on her, and I'm pretty sure she did the same. She was the only one I told about my thieving misadventures, and I think I inspired her. She joined the thieves guild, using her Holy Assassins skills to better herself. I missed her, and wondered if I'd see her again.

I decided to get up early, after studying Marie's and Gogron's faces. Telaendril looks up at me, and said, "Try these two potions, I managed to narrow it down." I swigged one, and drank the other. I began to feel something in me, like it was back to normal. "I think the second one worked." She nodded, excited, "I mixed Mandrake root and root pulp, how did it taste? "It tasted like bark." (Don't ask me how I know how bark tastes) She jotted this down in a notebook. "Thank you," I said. She looked puzzled, and said, "It's what family is for."

I got some beef from the cabinet, and ate it raw, and put the rest on a plate for Schemer. I then went to look for Daruke. He was in the training room, tired out. "How did you like your first day, Daruke?" He looked at me, saying, "Okay, I guess, I mean, no race I like inhabits here. What do you think of that Breton miss?" he asked. I held back a laugh, answering, "She's a little young for you. Besides, I think our Argonian friend has his sights set on her." "YOUR Argonian friend!" He exclaimed before hurrying to his bed, almost stepping on Schemer. I wonder what got into him! Probably some vampires fangs, I thought.

The day went off without a hitch. Basically, Gogron introduced me formally to everyone, and explained the various functions of the sanctuary, all the while expressing his hate for stealth. I then sparred with him, using dulled weapons. I won, getting the better of his slow axe swings. After that he told me the five tenets, and explained the consequences of breaking them. We ate dinner together, becoming friends. I even smiled when he cracked a joke about the Imperial Legion. I gave the leftovers to Schemer, and Ocheeva saw that, and made feeding him my duty, which I already enjoyed doing.

As I was putting my stuff into my chest, just before I went to bed, I saw Daruke get up, and leave the sanctuary. I wondered what he was doing. I pushed it to the back of my mind, trying to sleep. An hour later I woke up to the scream of Teinaava, and sprung out of bed, flipped open my chest, and withdrew my dagger, I noted Tei' Emm and Gogron doing the same, Telaendril rushing out to investigate, since she was still up. Marie was still asleep. Both Tei' Emm and I reached to shake her awake, our hands hitting each other. He stared at me, "Allow me, please." he said rather coldly. Telaendril yelled for help, and I rushed out.

In the foyer were at least 11 vampires, a few looking for people to kill in the training room. I noted Teinaava, unconscious or worse, lying on the ground, blood seeping into his shrouded armor. I knew from my introduction with him that he likes to stay up reading, I guess that lead to his demise. Telaendril was fighting a mage who had pulled out a dagger, struggling to survive. I lunged at the vampire, who wasn't paying any attention to me, and slit its throat. Telaendril thanked me, and I said, "Hey, it's what family's for." I sensed a vampire behind me, and sidestepped the biggest sword I had ever seen.

Tei' Emm rushed on to the scene, and said Marie was getting her armor on. Tei' Emm slept in his robes. He helped me subdue the one with the big sword. I saw Daruke's face in the crowd, along with a dunmer who looked like him, and he was fighting with us. It was his fault. He must've gotten the vampires assembled when he left. I wonder if the vampire up there was his sister. I was sucked back into reality by having to dodge a thunderbolt coming at me. I defended Telaendril as she applied poison to her blade with a rag, killing another vampire. There were 7 left, Marie making an entrance by beheading one with her shortsword. She was cute when she was fighting for her life.

Telaendril had finished poisoning her sword, and hit a vampire with it. It coughed up blood, writhed on the floor in agony, and died. "How many hits do you get?" I yelled over all of the warcries. She replied "About four, then I have to apply more poison." I nodded, nimbly getting out of the way of some arrow. Tei' Emm spotted the archer, and threw a knife at him, ending his immortality. We charged at Daruke and the other Dunmer, killing one, and leaving the other crippled, to deal with later. In the training room we say Mraaj-Dar being overcome by the bloodsuckers, clutching his side with one arm and flinging spells with the other.

By this time, Vicente and Ocheeva had joined us. Gogron smashed a head in with a warhammer, and wrestled another to the ground, beating on him to death. I kicked one in the groin, and fell to the ground as Ocheeva's sword sliced it in half right above my head. Vicente then performed a breathtaking fire spell on one, and all that was left was dust. Mraaj-Dar collapsed, out of blood. Vicente said he had blood in his room, and rushed to get it, but it was too late. The Khaajiti was gone, so was Teinaava. I walked up to a badly wounded Daruke, who wouldn't last another 5 minutes.

"Why did you do this!? Why!?" I said, kicking him in the side. He replied, barely a whisper. "If you can't beat em, join em. I knew you would best me, so I made up the whole Dreadspawn thing to survive, and attack in bigger force later." I contemplated this, and said, "If Tei' Emm and I took out 6 alone, having plenty more allies would making us kill times more! He nodded. "I thought they'd be weak pushovers." I sighed, and walked away, letting nature take its course. The next day Gogron and I dumped the bodies in lake Arrius.

The Fourth Diary of the Outcast Ninja

Man, that was some tough work. Gogron and I had just returned from Lake Arrius to do our business there, when Tei' Emm. approached me, and told me to follow him. Most of the family had gone on assignments or shopping trips or visits, since it was the weekend. He led me to the living quarters, and immediately pinned me to the wall with his fist.

"Marie is my girl, not yours! If I see you make one advance on her, your head will be off before your crafty little mind can register my glass dagger through your neck." He said through gritted teeth, which seemed sharper. He then let me down, to hit the floor, which of course, seemed harder. I noted Schemer running and hiding under a bed while he said all of this. I love that little guy!

An awkward silence ensued. He concluded, saying, "Just leave her alone, okay?" I nodded, still shaken. Tei' Emm hurried out-pratically sprinting.

The next morning I woke up and ate breakfasts, meeting Tei' Emm in the foyer area. "Look, i'm sorry for what went down yesterday." I nodded, and he added, pulling out a big piece of paper from who knows where, "Heres the Black Horse Courier, you should read this one. Taelindril delivered it last night, after you went to bed." I began to read, it said:

Three days ago, the Renijra Krin, a new but already fierce terrorist organization took the blame for a vicious attack on Leyawiin. According to an eyewitness report by a respected town guard, 5 to 7 Khajiiti, very dirty, enter the Five Claws lodge during the afternoon. He went to investigate. They hung around, talking quietly until just after dark. They then flung off their robes, revealing all kinds of cruel blades underneath. They rushed the patrons, killing the owner of the bar and a few fighters guild employees. The guard was taken by surprise, but managed to fight his way outside to call for help. By now, the Khajiit men had nearly finished up in the tavern, and a few of them rushed out to be ambushed by 10 guards. They spilled into the tavern, where a mean fight ensued. All but one Khajiit were killed, the only survivor was captured, and will be dead as you read this. The people dead:Castus Varnus, town guard. Ahdarji, respected member of the community. Brodas, fighters guild member. Eitar, a smith. Vantus Prelius, a fighters guild member. Betto Plotius, a much disliked racist, who was loudly ranting about the presence of the Khajiiti there. We caught up with Caula Allectus yesterday, and she said, "I was on my way to the lodge, if those cats decided to attack later that night, I surely would have died. Though against the jailor's wishes, we interviewed the Khajiit that was locked up, who wished to be called Bleeding-Head.

Black Horse Courier:"Why did your organinization do this to us?"

Bleeding-Head:"First off, its not an organization, simply because we are not organized. We are simply a band of Khajiiti who believe that the Empir stole our land, and since asking politely got us nowhere, we are showing you Imperials that we mean business, as long as it isn't too organized. We attacked you because your guards would do the same if we stole.

BHC:So how big is the Renijra Krin?

BH:It matters not the number of cats in the army, what matters is the size of the army in the cat.

BHC:How did you feel about killing fellow beasts?

BH:The Argonians can go die in a swamp. We only care about cats, and those poor souls will understand their martyrdom was for a great cause.

BHC:What if the Imperial Legion goes after you?

BH:Everybody know the legion is spread too thin. The only ones after us would be two old grandmothers with bad hips and hearing.

Clearly this Khajiit was a few plants short of a garden, if you know what I mean. The whole of Cyrodiil will mourn the losses, and the government plans to plan a counterattack, as soon as they find the wherabouts of this evil organization. If you want to donate gold to the victims of this tragedy, we will have a courier in each major city.

Hm. Some cats hate the empire. Perhaps they would be allies some day. I pondered whether we actually could be allies over lunch. The Sanctuary was pretty empty. Probably just me, Schemer, and Tei' Emm. I wonder what had got into him. Maybe that was just the way Argonians dealt with things, they were certainly more predatorial and relied on instincts more than we did.

The afternoon was uneventful. I went topside to the Newlands Lodge, and things were slow there, but I didn't care, I was just drinking. I was walking home with an almost empty beer bottle, when I finished it and threw it on the ground. A guard rushed up to me, "You just littered! Stop under then name of the law! Pay 5 gold, or you're under arrest!" I chucked 5 coins into a nearby trash can. "Burn in Oblivion." I said, and ran off.

I ducked inside after making sure the guard wasn't following me. Imperials, I thought to myself, Always want to get the last coin. I realized 5 seconds later that I was an Imperial. I shrugged it off and ate dinner. I tinkered around with Taelendril's alchemy tools, and went to bed early again.

I spent another 4 days in the sanctuary. Tei' emm said we'd leave on the following night, setting off to kill people for gold. I would miss things here. I'm sure Tei' Emm would visit here more, to see his girlfriend. I didn't feel I could mention her name any more. I flipped back to the pages in my journal when her name was written on it. What could have been. I was pondering exactly what could have been when I heard a blast from above.

I heard a metallic grinding sound, some big things toppling above me, and shrill human screams, whimpers, cries, and horrible, unhuman shrieks. These shrieks could have been from hell itself, they sounded so horrible. Or agents of hell...

Something was going on above my head. Sounded like Cheydinhal was being attacked by a very large force. That sounded grave for those people up there. I wonder if that guard jerk was dead yet. But what could be attacking Cheydinhal? I thought of everything that was anti- Cyrodiil. Bandits, Marauders, Conjurers, Necromancers, Renijra Krin, Dark Brotherhood, and various low-lifes came to the top of my head. Bandits? Plausible, but this seemed too organized. Bandits usually don't team up, having about 15 at the most together. Marauders? Like the bandits they weren't that organized. Conjurers? Very plausible. The unhuman shrieks could come from summoned Daedra, and 3 frost atronachs could knock down a building. There wasn't really a way they could get inside the city, unless the gates weren't reinforced. Necromancers? Could be them, but conjurers had better evidence, although the necromancers actually had a religion, which could bring them together. Renijra Krin? I hear the walls or a gate go down. They would just walk in the city and murder countless. They couldn't knock down buildings, and if they had gotten mages to do the dirty work, but that was a waste of money. Dark Brotherhood? Out of the question. They had all of the evidence against them. I guess we were being attacked by conjurers.

Tei' Emm dropped down the pit that held our well, which was our secret entrance. I mean, he fell. He was barely conscious. He must've broken a couple of bones. I dragged him to his bed, and realized I couldn't give him much help. I knew a couple of spells from Ninja School that helped heal. I asked him, "Where does it hurt?" before I realized I sounded like a doctor dealing with a child. "I think my back is damaged, since I can't move my legs. I had to drag myself to the well, and I could climb down the ladder. Which lead to me breaking my arm from the fall." He struggled with each word, rested a few seconds every few words.

I cast one spell, 'Bone mend' on his arm and back, and 'Close Wound' (a little bit of a fire spell in there.) on the areas that were bleeding. "What in Oblivion is going on up there??" I shouted above a crash directly above us. The Abandoned house was destroyed. He wasn't struggling so much anymore, "Interesting choice of words... Daedra attacked. 3 portals, I guess they could be called gates. Anyways, they spawned up from nowhere. suddenly a really big one spawned, all the while Daedra were trying to break into the city. It seems a highly trained band snuck around to another gate, and got into the city. I was in the Newlands Lodge, I was upstairs watching through a window, not really thinking about what would happen if they broke through. But the breakthrough was spectacular. We had at least 50 Daedra swarming into the city. From my little windowpane view I see a brilliant battle between the guards and the Daedra. I picked up some of their battle techniques, and I'll teach you them later if you want. I bet the Knights of the Thorn lodge was obliterated. Anyways, the guards lost that battle. I guess it's honorable that they don't ever run from fights. The Daedra had started going through buildings with no apparent order, and of course we had a few in the bar. The ones downstairs were wiped out. I realized the Daedra would never stop coming, so I jumped out the back window. I didn't land right. I was knocked out for a time. I don't know if I was spotted by any Daedra, but I managed to crawl here somehow. I encountered a few demons, but I knew their combat style so I knocked them out pretty easy, even with no legs." He smiled for a moment, and continued.

"Good thing you were down here, or I probably would still be laying there in pain." He finished. I said, "Must be because of the Emperor's murder. I knew that amulet had supernatural meaning. How much do you suppose of the city is gone now?" He thought for a moment and said, "Probably about half are destroyed, with the rest of the buildings damaged. I estimate that there will be 10% of the citizens surviving, probably huddling in the chapel or in the castle's basement." Suddenly a chilling thought occured to me. "What if this is happening all over cyrodiil?" Tei' Emm winced in pain, "Marie is in the Imperial City! The Daedra would be most concentrated there. Telaendril is in this city.. I wonder if she made it out alive. Gogron was in Bravil, performing a contract for a Fighter's Guild member. Just his style. Ocheeva is in Blackwood hunting down some sort of rogue, and Vicente could be anywhere, he was just looking for a meal." It could variably be just you, me, and Schemer. Ocheeva and Vicente most likely survived.. I can't say about Marie or Gogron. We should get some sleep, if we can.

The screams and crashes continued through the night. Horrible, terrible monsters. I wondered If I could make it through this.

Diary of the Outcast Ninja 5 part 1

Horrible screams. Horrible sounds. I can't do a thing about it. Tei' Emm and I stayed underground while the whole city above us was decimated. I glanced over at the charred-red Argonian. I could tell he was quite shaken, and would have bet he wanted to do something about the Daedra. I bet something happened to him as a kid to make him this way. Early trauma, they say; it can totally shape somebody's personality. Alperion would say that a child changes easiest.

The noises were beginning to die down. We heard the familiar creak of the well's lid, and sprinted to the secret entrance. Gogron and Ocheeva slipped down together. My hopes raised. I exclaimed, "You're back!" Ocheeva nodded, and said, "Where's Marie and Vicente?"

Tei' Emm embraced Ocheeva, and replied, "We don't know, but I'm guessing you know more than we do." I stepped in, asking, "How did you get back, what's it like up there, and do you know how bad everything is on the big-scale?" Gogron answered, "I was heading back up here from Bravil, taking a shortcut through the Valus Mountains, when Ocheeva snuck up on me." Ocheeva added, "I had killed the rogue and was using the same shortcut."

"It's pretty bad up there. Most of the Daedra have gone, and there's only one gate up there, but we saw the remains of more. Anyways, most of the buildings are rubble. We spotted a few townspeople trying to find loved ones. The castle is no longer existent." I could hardly imagine just us four in a city of ruin. "You didn't answer my last question." Ocheeva nodded, "We don't know, but we're guessing due to some smoke we saw that the Imperial City was wrecked, and Kvatch further down the road. We feared the worst when we saw Cheydinhal like this." I thought a moment, and concluded, "Let's head topside."

We climbed the ladder one by one, Tei' Emm first. When he made it up and looked around, he gasped and lost his balance, almost falling back in. I clambered up behind him. I saw total destruction for no reason. To my left was the wreck that used to be our abandoned house. Litter and rubble decorated the ground, and across the street we saw a guard, half limping, half crawling from a scamp that was picking on it for it's own amusement. Tei' Emm saw a glimpse of this and charged headlong at the demon, his glass dagger glinting in the sunlight. For the next 30 seconds he turned that Scamp into an unrecognisable form.

I looked over at the chapel, expecting the worst to be done to it. Amazingly, it was still standing tall, looking 30 years more worn, but otherwise fine. The house across from us, Aldos Othran's, who had recently gotten evicted from it, was a heap of stone and woodwork. Next to Othran's, Llevana Nedaren's house was in good condition on the outside, but the door was burnt to a crisp and thrown off it's hinges, a total mess in there could be seen from outside. We wandered over there, stepping over corpses and rubble. Inside we found two scamps. Tei' Emm used a such high powered fire spell on one that only steam was left. While he was casting he through a steel dagger at the other one, the blade was now resting in the scamp's neck. Perfectly placed so the scamp would suffocate, but still feel pain, with minimal blood loss.

We left while the demon choked. I led the way to the chapel, the rest following me like I told them to telepathically. Little did I know that I did just that. You see, Mraaj-Dar had taught us all a spell that let us communicate. He called it 'Telephone' Apparently that meant 'talking over distance' or something in a dead language. We could subconsciously cast this spell, and talk to eachother without knowing it.

Tei' Emm spoke up, "Did you just say something?" I shook my head. He flipped back a spine on his head that had fallen in front of his face, "I could've sworn you just told me to follow you." Gogron and Ocheeva nodded in unison, "I heard that too." Ocheeva thought, It must be one of Mraaj-Dar's tricks I heard that like it was spoken to me, but I didn't hear anyone talking. Strange. I decided to test it. I thought to myself while channeling magical energy, Those spines sure make Tei' Emm look scary, If I was a kid, I would run from him. Tei' Emm punched me in the face, which sent me sprawling into some barrels outside the Chapel. "How would you like me commenting on that dorky haircut of yours!?" I put my hands in front of me, "Calm down, I was testing this communication we seem to have. And by the way, I spent 4 years in prison and I only had a steel dagger to cut my hair."

"You're right. We can talk to eachother without words." Gogron said. Ocheeva added, "It's called telepathy." We entered the church. The benches were arranged like barricades, and 3 guards drew their bows as we entered. one of them shot his arrow into the ground and said, "Fellow Men, Mer, and Beasts. We thought we were all that was left." as he was saying this, the other 2 guards did the same thing with their bows. We hopped over the benches and took note of our surroundings. 6 Bedrolls arranged in a corner, with 2 dirty looking people sleeping on them. "There are 7 people here. Our food supply is in those barrels over there." He said, and pointed to 5 not-so-neatly arranged barrels, "Feel free to have an apple, but not too much, we need it all.

"Oh, No!" Tei' Emm cried out. 'What is it?' I wondered. He must've picked it up and said, "Marie sent me a message. She's in big trouble."

Go to this page for Part 2.