The Elder Scrolls: Nights of Red

An Argonian visits the island of Solstheim to make a Skooma delivery. Nasty surprises await.

               "A spear of bitter mercy,

               lost in an accord of madness

               until a hero arose

               and earned it from the maddest.

               The Fork of Horripilation,

               from Big-Head to retrieve,

               then Giant Netch to slaughter,

               if such things you believe.

               But someday every hero

               will meet untimely fate,

               and returned to the Hunter

               was a spear of anti-hate."

-Dorisa Darvel, The Incarnate in Verse, Cantos XIV

               Bud-Ei was cold. Of course he was. Snow drifted lazily down that night, settling on anything that got in its way, whether it was the crisp, towering pines that made up the Hirstaang, the occasional rock or boulder dotting the landscape, or even the frozen ground itself. He kicked the white fluff angrily as he trudged along. "Curse this Skooma addict dung to Oblivion and beyond!" What he wouldn't give to be back at home in the marsh, but this was the way of things. Dro'Mashi, his Khajiiti delivery man, had been killed last week over a deal gone wrong. There had been Imperial Legionnaires involved, no doubt in another pathetic attempt to halt the trade. It was just one more reason to be wary of new customers.

               The result of Dro'Mashi's death had been more than a loss of product and gold. Bud-Ei was now forced to make all important deliveries personally until he could find a new middle man. Which brought him here, to Solstheim.

               Hagrad Boar-Face lived at the Mead Hall of Thirsk, and it was to him Bud-Ei was delivering the Skooma. Hagrad was in the business of buying large quantities of the narcotic with expensive trinkets, and then selling it all off for whatever was valuable. Those trinkets were usually worth more than the product purchased, but neither of them cared. For Bud-Ei it was a chance to expand the family business. For Hagrad, it was all about sport. Bud-Ei shook his head and muttered to himself, "Crazy Nord."

               Looking up to check his surroundings, the Argonian realized he had crossed the invisible border that separated Hirstaang Forest from Isinfier Plains. 'It won't be long now,' he thought. 'Now I turn east, cross the Iggnir River, go north until I see Lake Fjalding, then go east again. Somewhere along that ice-blasted landscape should be Thirsk.'

               As he moved toward the river, his thoughts drifted back to the first time he'd visited. He hated the cold just as much then as he did now, having come to Solstheim seeking a man called Uncle Sweetshare.

               Bud-Ei had grown up in the harsh world of Skooma trade, and even joined the business as a delivery man. During that time he often had to worry about getting caught by the Legion or killed over prices. Then, almost ten years ago, he finally decided to move up in the industry. He didn't want to be anyone's lackey anymore, and so sought out a way to make Skooma of his own.  The best, or so he'd heard, to learn from was Uncle Sweetshare. It was during that initial excursion that he'd also met Hagrad.

               Uncle Sweetshare had turned out to be a cheerful old Nord who just wanted to make others happy. Bud-Ei suspected that he didn't even realize Skooma was a drug as he'd never mentioned the trade, its illegality, or the ill side effects. When the old Nord had agreed to give him an apprenticeship, he was thrilled. He was finally going to be at the top. After learning how to make his first batch, Uncle Sweetshare sent him on his way to deliver it to Hagrad for testing.

               The moment he'd stepped through Thirsk's front door, which admittedly was many wolves and a bear later, Hagrad had greeted him warmly.

               "Are you alright, my Argonian friend? You look a shade of blue that I've only ever seen on a choking Riekling." The Nord gave a hearty laugh and clapped Bud-Ei on the back. Bud-Ei glared at him. "If I were any colder, my tail would fall off." It wasn't meant to be a joke, but Hagrad laughed uproarously as if he'd just heard a bawdy jest about where High Elves stick their magic.

               The taste testing had gone well, though, with medium-high marks for quality. Shortly afterward, the Nord made to see him to Lake Fjalding, but there was a problem. The sky had turned deep shades of brown and crimson, and about a hundred yards away from the mead hall stood a large, stone portal. The center of the portal shimmered with magical yellows and oranges, and through that wall of light marched a large figure in rough hewn armor. From that moment until Martin Septim's sacrifice, Bud-Ei's Skooma apprenticeship was on hold while he and Hagrad dealt with their side of the Oblivion Crisis.

               Now here he was, ten years later and still freezing his scales off. Even his head-spikes hurt. When the wind kicked up, he spat, "Oblivion take you!" He knew it was useless to shout at the wind but it at least made him feel better. A little.

               Bud-Ei heard the roaring of the nearby river and miserably dragged his tail toward it. 'Just be patient,' he chided himself, 'Thirsk will be nice and warm.' He was so lost in his daydream about the nice, cozy fires that he didn't even see the horker until it was right on top of him. It let out a mighty roar before jamming its tusk into his leg. Pain flooded through it as the beast shook its head violently, tearing up his muscles. Bud-Ei reached desperately for his Daedric spear, a favored weapon won in Oblivion, as he fell. The horker pulled its tusk out and made to stab at him again. The injured Argonian wrenched the spear from its place on his back and was about to kill the beast, but a different spear flew from across the river and tore through the horker's skull, killing it instantly.

               Bud-Ei looked up to see who had thrown it, and standing there was what looked like a muscular, man in a loincloth. On the man's head was a deer-skull headdress, and a necklace of teeth adorned his bare chest. The Argonian watched as he held out his hand, causing the spear to fly out of the horker's head and to the owner. Then the man gave a slight nod of the head, and faded into nothing. It was at this exact moment that Bud-Ei realized the moon was no longer its usual color. It was blood red now.

               "By the Hist!" he swore in awe. "Those silly fairy tales were..." The pain from his injury wouldn't let him finish. Bud-Ei winced as he dug through his pack for a potion. The snow beneath him showed blotts of red; wolves would no doubt catch the scent soon and find their way there. He dug faster, sifting through Skooma bottles, both empty and full, and there was his Skooma pipe, An Argonian Account; a book he'd brought to read on the boatride from Khuul, a few cure disease potions and... the last restore health potion. "Such Histsap!" he cursed. He should have thought to stop by Frostmoth, the Imperial Garrison on Solstheim, to buy more. There were always a few shops set up in those forts, mainly for the Legionairres, but the common folk were allowed to purchase there too, if needed. On the other hand, he didn't like to be so close to them with so much Skooma on his person.

               The Argonian popped the cork and guzzled the invigorating, semi-sweet liquid. The pain in his leg died away, and the wound began to visibly close up. Howling in the distance hurried Bud-Ei along. His leg wasn't fully healed yet, but he decided he'd rather take his chances in the river rather than with a pack of wolves. 'Besides,' he thought to himself, 'Its not like I'm going to drown.' If anything, his only worry would be freezing to death.

Author's Note

Incomplete but please tell me what you think because I'm not sure if I should continue writing it or not.

Reviews

[RobbieT]

When writing a book based off of a video game you have to be extremely careful not to make the story sound exactly like the game. One way to avoid this is to water down certain things. For example I wouldn't call a potion meant to restore health a "restore health potion". Instead I would call it something like a salve or just something more realistic. On a similar note don't go the way of the Infernal City and use completely outrageous things like a flying potion. The video game world is pretty realistic (as far as fantasy is concerned) and it should be the job of the author to maintain that realism or enhance it. I don't know about everyone else but if I'm reading a fantasy novel and I come across something too far out there I just toss the book in a stack to go drop off at the Goodwill. One last tip on realism is water down the abilities of potions or include a more magical element in them. A potion causing invisibility made from aloe and something else is just too out there in my opinion.

Overall I thought the plot in your story was going somewhere. I'd love to see where you take it in the future!

[Wabbajack]

I know what you mean, however in Morrowind they had Levitation potions and spells that were probably the inspiration for the "Flying Potion" mentioned in The Infernal City. Even though they kicked that out of Oblivion and Skyrim, it was still a very significant and important part of Morrowind gameplay and story. As for finishing/publishing this, who knows? I have other projects right now that I'm more focused on at the moment, but perhaps I will finish it in the future.

[RobbieT]

I never played Morrowind so thanks for the TES lore update! Your story actually got me thinking about writing my own fan fic.

[Wabbajack]

Go back and play it if you can, copies seem to be pretty rare these days. The game is drastically different from Oblivion and Skyrim but once you get past the differences it is well worth the effort. This should help you adapt downward from the recent two (soon to be three with the release of ESO) to Morrowind.
http://uesp.net/wiki/Differences_Between_Morrowind,_Oblivion,_and_Skyrim
Also, when I started writing this, I mainly had Morrowind in mind since I couldn't play Skyrim or Oblivion at the time, and my heart longed for the Bloodmoon expansion once more. I guess you could say that its written from a Morrowind perspective.

[Wabbajack]

Also, if you write your own TES fanfic be sure that you know your lore very well. I suggest setting aside a day or two for nothing but reading, reading, and more reading. The TES history is almost as complex as our own. Here's a good source for lore. Www.uesp.net/wiki/lore:books_by_subject

[RobbieT]

I know that site well. haha I'm one of those people who buy the TES games to and spend more time reading the in game books than playing missions. I'm absolutely in love with Tamriel and its vivid characters and events. Middle Earth and Alagaesia are my other favorites.

[Wabbajack]

Middle Earth and Alagaesia are okay, but I kind of have a thing for Westeros (Shhh! Don't tell Tamriel that I've been cheating on her)

[Jenni-Chan]

yes. those fairy tales were true. what now bud-ei? what now?

[Jenni-Chan]

It sounds good... if you watch all your typos and have me/ an editor read it first.
Namely, "To the first time to the first time he'd visited"? that doesn't make sense.

[Wabbajack]

Thanks for pointing that out, I'm not quite sure how that happened.

[Jenni-Chan]

you are very welcome.

[Wabbajack]

You are a doofus, you know that? I mean really, commenting online when I'm sitting RIGHT BEHIND YOU watching what you're doing on the computer? Doof move, my nutball of a little sister, doof move.

[Jenni-Chan]

lol. if you want to have this convo, e-mail me.