Inigo thanked her and Zayirr and said that he would talk more but he wanted to make sure that his friend found the seeds to
replenish the fields of vegetables that now lay blacker than the deepest pits of Oblivion. Sheem-la and her husband waved good-bye
to the khajiit as he pushed the door open.
Hasir walked up the cobblestone path and over the wooden drawbridge and entered the city. He walked past warmaiden's and
headed straight for Arcadia's Cauldron because he knew she'd possibly have the seeds he needed; after all, she did, he knew, have
flowers for use for alchemy purposes.
He entered and Arcadia looked up from her counter; where she was organizing her alchemical ingredients.
"Hello again. How can I help you?" She asked
Hasir walked, with purpose, to the counter; his tail swishing behind him,
"Do you have any seeds?" He asked as he drummed his claws on the counter, "I require them to fix a mishap."
Arcadia leaned over the counter and asked the Argonian what sort of mishap. Hasir's left leg gave out a little; he staggered slightly.
The alchemist stared at him concernedly. Hasir walked over to the table in the corner and sat down and told the Imperial that it was
just an old injury he sustained many months ago.
Arcadia set down the blue mountain flower she was in the middle of categorizing and walked over to the table and sat down opposite
Hasir,
"Care to tell me the tale of how you recieved that injury?" Hasir shook his head and told her that she would find it boring. Arcadia
grasped the Argonian's claws and said she wanted to know.
Hasir took a deep breath and stared at the alchemy station behind the Imperial.
"Fine." He said, looking bored. "I was hunting some silver hand members in a cave when one of them shot a bolt through my tibia. I
was in my werewolf form," Hasir said to a shocked Arcadia, "I, er, was in my black and white lupine halves at the time. When, hours
later, I was in my Argonian form, my mate Rakel found me pale as a sheet, obviously from the loss of blood, and tied a plank to my
leg after she fitted the shattered bits of bone together and assisted me to the Temple of Kynareth."
He gestured to his leg as he discussed the matter with Arcadia. The sound of scraping chair legs startled the Imperial alchemist as
Hasir stood up and gestured towards the shop door.
"I would love to stay and talk more but I've a task to complete. By the way.... er, if you don't have seeds here do you know where I
can find some so I can fix my error?"
Arcadia told him that one of the vendors in the market district, Carlotta Valentia, is the vegetable merchant. You might ask her or her
daughter, Mila. Hasir stopped at the door and turned to the Imperial. She strode toward him and said she was going to same way
because she had to talk to the Jarl about something. "Carlotta sells, to my knowledge, pea and carrot seeds as well as corn and
wheat kernals as well as a plethora of fully grown vegetables." Hasir smiled, thanked her and walked to the Whiterun market as
Arcadia proceeded past him to the steps leading to the wind district.
Hasir walked to the small market at the foot of the stairs that led to Jorrvaskr and saw that the flags that decorated the market days
previous were gone and that no one was boasting their wares for sale. He shrugged as if this did not phaze him, however, at the back
of his mind, he was dissapointed about not getting the chance to get some wares at half-priice like he said he was going to do.
He looked up and saw the moon beginning to come out. Hasir was unconcerned of this because he knew the ring he had enough
sense to fit onto his finger minutes before would keep the best lurking within him at bay. He walked closer to the vegetable stall and
smiled as he saw Carlotta's daughter, Milla playing with a doll with a little blue dress and sttaw-like hair,
"Mila, do you know where you mom is?" He asked as he lent over the wooden surface of the stall. Hasir looked intently at Mila who
shook her head.
Hasir hissed in disappointment. Mila heard this and gestured to the house behind the stal.
"She's inside. If you want to, you can get her." Hasir shook his head and said she should do it instead.
Mimutes later, Hasir got up and smiled as a woman in a tan dress approached the stall. She gestured to her wares and asked the
Argonian what he would like. Hasir smiled at her,
"Hi Carlotta, doing well?" Hasir asked smiling. The imperial shrugged. Hasir nodded; his finger tapping his chin as if in thought, "As
you can guess I didn't come here to exchange small talk, I actually came here to buy seeds. Do you have carrot and lettuce seeds as
well as wheat and corn kernels?" He asked, frowning at the stunning lack of seed packages on display.
Carlotta nodded, disappeared below her stall and brought out a small wooden box of assorted seeds and kernels. Hasir riffled
through the box cut into three sections, found what he was looking for and gave the Imperial the required gold.
Hasir thanked Carlotta, pushed the city gates open and walked back toward the farm. He saw Inigo and Zayirr walking towards him,
eyeing the seeds in the Argonian's arms. The Argonian walked over to the burnt crops, took the spade that leant by the side of the
farmer's house and began replacing the destroyed crops with the seeds he'd gotten. With all the seeds depleted and the pits of earth
filled, he scooped the spare dirt onto the open mounds. He found a bucket lying near the garden, filled it at the nearby well and
poured a small measure of water over each of the earthy mounds.
With that done he went inside to wait for the vegetables to grow. The two khajiit looked at each other and went inside after him.
They saw Hasir sitting at the table eating a soup that the female Argonian, who was sitting across from him, had made. Inigo and
Zayirr took the empty chair; Zayirr took the one close to the fire and Inigo the one next to Hasir. The blue khajiit spotted the light
green Argonian slide a book across the table. Hasir picked it up and looked at the title,
"Sheem-la, what is this for?" He said waving the book at her.
Sheem-la looked at him, smiling sweetly.
"You told me you wanted to know more about Molag Bal and his minion." She gestured to the yeloow book in Hasir's claw, "I think
this book will help shed some light on their background and why they are doing what they're doing.
Hasir's eyes bore into hers and pounded his fist on the table.
"I already know the reason. They are pissed about the 'unholy union' and see to destroy Hircine's children' because Molag Bal
believes we, er, I mean I, or, more specifically, my kind, caused some kind of befouling of the bloodline." He thundered back.
She sighed and gestured Hasir to sit down again.
"Well, that book further explains their motives. It is called The incident at Necrom. I think you'll find that that book will help you
greatly in your fight against both Molag Bal and his followers, who, I understand, are also destroying nature to kill, as you say,
'Hircine's children'." She gestured to Hasir's backpack leaning against the table, "I also strongly recommend thoroughly reading the
books you acquired from the dwemer mansion."
Hasir gawked at Xhiak, not sure who told her about that,
"Why?" His finger prodded the air between them, "Did someone tell you about them? If I find them, I will personally silence them."
He lent back in his chair, "I bet it was Lahar." He muttered.
Inigo waved his friend down and explained the situation.
"Relax my friend. I told her. I thought she'd help you find out about why you gained that ability you now possess."
Sheem-la nodded and said what Inigo had said was true. She told Hasir that she to possessed the same power. She gestured the
Argonian to follow her and she would tell him what she was talking about. Hasir did and gasped as Xhiak transformed from an
Argonian into a fox with fur white as snow and eyes brown as the dirt in just under two seconds.
Hasir gawked at her and Zayiir came over and gingerly stroked the fox's white fu.
"How did she-? I didn't-What in Oblivion?" He was unsure what was more amazing - that she could transform into a fox or that she
could transform faster than he could. He thought that Hircine, if she did worship him, could only govern werewolves and he left the
other creatures to someone else. He also thought she somehow obtained one of Hermaeus Mora's black books to learn such
forbidden knowledge."
The arctic fox looked up at the brown khajiit and cocked its head. Zayirr nodded as if he understood and turned back to Hasir.
"I know what you're thinking and to put your fears to rest, she did not gain the ability from any black books that Hermaeus mora
posessed but from kynareth." His faced fell, "at least I think that's where she got it from." Hasir looked at him, unconvinced. Zayiir's
face broke into a smile, "Did you know Hircine's wolves see Kynareth's foxes as prey?" As if by coincidence, Hasir heard low growling
to his left. He unsheathed an axe and sneaked to the apple tree near the farmhouse.
He watched as the wolves leapt at the poor creature. The fox saw this and darted for the trees; yelping with fright as the wolves tried
to bite it's tail. Hasir raised his axe and threw it as hard as he could. The ivory axe head gleamed in the sunlight as it soared through
the air, cartwheeling as it flew toward its target. One of the wolves whined as the axe penetrated its skull. The other wolf, unphazed
by his fallen comrade, advanced on the frightened fox. The argonian expected red liquid to issue forth from the fox's neck but was
not prepared for what happened next. Zayirr ran at the wolf, yelling like a madman as he decapitated the wolf with his sword. Blood
did spray on the fox, Hasir saw, but it was the wolf's blood, not the fox's.
Zatirr smiled at the fox who barked with acknowledgement. The arctic fox transformed back into the female Argonian who giggled at
Hasir. Inigo strode over to Zayirr who set to watering the newly planted crops.
"Are you going to tell Hasir how she can transform or is she?" He whispered
Zayirr gestured Inigo to move back so he did not squish the vegetables.
"She'll tell him, don't worry." He sighed deeply and set the watering can beside the spade, "I just wouldn't feel right if I told him. I
have absolutely no idea how she got that ability to be honest. Did she get it from Hircine or something or someone far darker? I've
no idea nor do I have an idea how her ability meshes with Hasir's if he does have the same thing. I also don't know how necrom
coincides with his quest." He said shrugging
Inigo saw Xelzaz relaxing against the trunk of the apple tree and called out to him.
"Hey, Xelzaz! Know anything about a city called Necrom?"
The telvanni Argonian shook cocked his head and walked over to the blue khajiit.
"No, Inigo, I don't think I do. I was born in Blackmarsh and when I was old enough whisked off to Port Telvannis. The penninsula lies
off Moorowind's coast and as such I've never seen or heard of such a place." He shivered, "Such a place sounds downright ghastly."
Inigo sighed as he and Xelzaz walked to the house. They gestured to Hasir, Zayirr and Sheem-La to join them. Inigo pushed the door
opened and waved them inside. Inigo went to work combining various ingredients from shelves as he made soup for all of them while
The three Argonians and the brown khajiit sat at the table. Inigo smiled as he brought over four hot bowls of potage le magnifique
and a bowl of the same for himself as well.
He sat at the table and watched as the Argonians and khajiit devoured the soup. When they'd finished, he gatered up the sppon and
bowls and brought them to a washbasin fill with water to soak. He returned to the table and sat down. Sheem-la cleared her throat
and explained how she was able to turn into a fox as well as the book.
"Years ago, when I was a young Argonian, barely older than six, I was contacted by a seeker." Both Inigo's and Hasir's eyes went
wide; they had never heard of seekers before and were eager to know more. "The seeker told me that he saw within me a thirst for
knowledge. He told me that his master oversees a library full of forbidden knowledge. He also told me of how his master's realm
holds vast rows of knowledge that one can peruse if they wish but all of it comes at a terrible cost. He said people who go to that
realm are often trapped wandering the halls endlessly until they simply go mad with all the 'knowledge' they have attained and
forever anchor themselves to his realm. They grow slimy tentacles where their head and feet were as well as long, thin slimy hands
and are clothed in robes made of the realm's knowledge-sucking tentacles, forever bound to his service."
Hasir gasped so loudly that Xhiak's train of thought got de-railed. She looked at his, eyes narrowing. Hasir saw this and gulped.
"Sorry, but...erm... you wouldn't be talking about Hermaus Mora would you?" He asked, his eyes darting wildly about. "Not that I
know about him, it was just an observation to come from..." His voice trailed away pathetically as he sank back into his chair.
Xhiak stared, wide-eyed, at the mystic Argonian. She did not know how someone who barely know of Hermaues Mora or his realm
could piece her words together into such perfect imagery.
"That's exactly who he was talking about. Are you...? No, you couldn't be. Have you been to Apocrypha before?" She asked, curious.
Hasir shook his head as he tried to explain away the astonishingly correct guess of who she was referencing. "Well then." She said,
smiling slyly, "If you haven't been there, how do you explain how you have so much knowledge about Hermaeus Mora, hmmm? Do
you perhaps have one of his black books in your house near Whiterun?" She asked, getting more heated with every word she spoke.
"Perhaps you created a place you can go where you can read its forbidden knowledge and be transported to his realm?"
Hasir looked at Xhiak, sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.
"I only meant that I heard about him by Miraak." Sheem-la's expression softened as she sat back in her chair, content with his
answer. She did not understand if he did indeed see Hermaeus Mora's servant; either this was true or it was just some crazy dream.
She told Hasir to read the Incident of Necrom book that she had given him on their first meeting and, with hope, he will find it
invaluable in his fight against Molag Bal.
Hasir smiled, cocked his head to this side as if he were pondering on something and asked Sheem-La about how she obtained
forbidden knowledge.
"Sheem-La, perhaps you are the one who ventured in Apocrypha and have neglected to tell me." He said, huffing angrily as he eyed
her across the table. Seeing no way out of this, Xhiak sighed and told Hasir that she did get assaulted by one of Hermaeus Mora's
tentacles and, in doing so, was teleported to Apocrypha; though come to think of it, she did not know if she was really there or if
she'd percieved Apocrypha being there when, in fact, it might've been an illusion brought on by the penetration of the tentacle
tapping into her thoughts, sucking every ounce of knowledge she had before tossing her shriveled brain, along with her lifeless body,
aside when it would yielded no more inkling of knowledge.
Perhaps, though, she was really there and she had percieved the tentacle-sucking sensation wrongly. She did not know as, she told
Hasir, that it felt real; that she could see the innumerous stacks of books along with those floating in the air as if blown by an
invisible wind, smell the acrid stench of the pools of water-like ink and of the realm itself, hear the foul breathing of the seekers and
feel the slimy tentacles that protruded out of the inky pools.
She smiled as if pained still by the tentacle, real or not, that had penetrated her mind, reached into her bag and extracted a book
black as night with intricate black lines that criss-crossed each other and put it on the table. Upon closer inspection, Hasir could see
that atop the crisscrossing lines lay a title embossed in black ink interwoven by a dark green outline: Epistolary Acumen. Hasir stared
at it, shocked. Even his hand seemed unsure as he reached out slowly to touch it.
He quickly withdrew his hand and stared at Xhiak in surprise. He asked her if she had procured this in Apocrypha; she nodded.
"This was the book from which I obtained the knowledge to shapeshift into a fox."
Hasir looked at her, a bit scared and asked if there were any drawbacks to using such a power. When dealing with daedric princes
there always were. He told her about how his uncle willingly joined Hircine as one of his loyal hounds and he was still planted in the
maze in the Hunting Grounds to be hunted by his own kind. Perhaps, Hasir thought, this was a rather poor comparison as the
wolflord did relish in the thrill of the hunt and, as such, did not present any unforseeable drawbacks.
Sheem-la merely shrugged. She did not know the best way to explain the potential drawbacks. In the end, though, she knew she
had to tell Hasir how she got to Apocrypha and also how her mind shapeshifts along with her body.
"Hasir, there may've been details I neglected to tell you." She said, biting her lip out of uncertainty. "I used this book to get into the
realm of Apocrypha." She said, gesturing to the center of the table. "I did not want to do it," She added quickly, "The lure of the
untold limits of knowledge that could be gained by reading such a book was tempting."
Hasir and Inigo looked at each other, scared. They knew where this was going to end. Hasir looked at Zayirr, who had a stoney
expression about him; almost as if he knew as well but didn't want to tell the female Argonian out of fear what she might do.
Sheem-la smiled slyly as if she knew what all three of them were thinking.
"I knew, from watching the Argonians' dealings with the hist, that such connections were... detramental but, something inside me
wanted to know the secrets of that book even though my mind was screaming for me not to do it, to be wary of the reprecussions. I
decided to shut my mind away for a little while and read the book. Upon opening the book, a tentacle unfurled from the pages; two
actually. One latched onto my head like it was trying suck my brains out through a particularly slimy straw while another kept me
tethered to the pages of the book."
Hasir swallowed his soup which had threatened to burst from his mouth like a freeflowing stream as he imagined her brain
getting sucked through a green and slimy straw. She giggled as she saw Hasir's pained expression and pressed on with her tale.
"While I was being held like a reptilian puppet, Hermaeus Mora permitted me to venture into his realm, my mind did anyway, while
my body-well you know."
She looked at Hasir and Inigo who urged her to continue. She smiled. "When my mind entered Apocrypha, it beheld a realm that
was so beautiful that I know mortals would indeed go mad upon seeing it. Pools of inky water with tentacles the color of vomit
shooting out of it and thrashing about, stacks of books high as the eye could see, grated black bridges crossing the inky pools
connecting the islands of the realm. Strange books that could be used to reach different parts of Apocrypha could be seem with tall
plant-like lanterns that loom over the books like the great eye did his realm and tunnels formed by forbidden books were
everywhere. Some of them even stretched like an accordion if stood in long enough; giving the illusion of being longer than they
actually were."
Hiasr scoffed at this rediculous notion. Sheem-la pushed the black book closer to Hasir and said if he didn't believe her that he
should take a look inside. Hasir grabbed the strange book and stuffed it inside his brown backpack.
"Yeah, maybe later. Right now I've too much on my plate to go chasing fireflies." He grinned at the female Argonian's livid face.
Sheem-la swore in Jel and shot daggers at the insolent Argonian. "It's no scales off my back. You can do what you wish with that.
Throw it into the deepest pits of Red Mountain for all I care." She said, scathingly. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down
and tried to recenter her frantically fuming brain. "Right. Anyway, as I beheld the bizarreness of the realm, I noticed pages flutter
around my ankles. I grabed a few of them and tried my damndest to decipher them but they were all in a language I did not yet
know. I riffled through the mile high stacks of books but could make tails nor scales of them. Finally, I managed to find one that was
in Tamrielic. I read it, and, I started to shrink grow white fur over my body and tail, my muzzle shorted and became whiter, my face
become unrecognizable. I walked, a bit unsteadily over to a pool of inky water, looked down and shrieked, though it only came out as
a terrified yelp."
Both Hasir and Inigo roared with laughter.
"You... yelped? Did he turned you into a dog?"
Zayirr told them to stop making fun of his mate. Both the argonian and khajiit apologized and let Sheem-la continue.
"It was then that I heard this voice in my head. It said that I sought the forbidden knowledge but that my mortal mind would
explode with the weight of it and, that despite turning me into a fox that was quite unlike his other 'followers' he saw potential in
me, and on hat token, decided to turn me back into an Argonian but with the option of shapeshifting into a fox. He did this because
he delved into my mind and saw openness that he'd not seen in other mortals who seek the forbidden knowledge of his realm for
themselves. He said I was more keen to share the knowledge with others when he saw I was not of a closed mind myself and, thus,
had no desire to use it for my own selfish needs."
Hasir took out the black book ; apparently bored by the female Argonian's words. He cracked it open and gave a yelp of fright. A
long, green tentacle shot out from the page and attempted to probe the Argonian's brain. He slammed the book shut and
look, frightened at Inigo. The khajiit looked up and yawned hugely.
"My friend, what is the yelling about? I was enjoying a good dream about smashing spiders." He said sleepily.
Hasir hasilty stuffed the book back into his bag.
"It was nothing Inigo. I was just, er, frightened by a spider in the pages of that book." Hasir said nervously. Inigo's eyes followed his
hand and narrowed as if not fully believing him. "I squished the spider though." He lied. Inigo's eyes became narrower and more
conspiratorial.
Hasir sighed in defeated and told Inigo the truth, seeing no point in beating around the bush.
"Alright Inigo, here's the truth. I didn't see a spider, I saw strange symbols of unknown origin flitting about on the pale yellow pages
of the book. I also saw," He shuddered as he thought this, "I also saw a long, green tentacle the size of a silt strider's leg erupt from
the pages of the vile book and it attempted to penetrate my brain."
The male Argonian gulped and closed his eyes as he groped into his bag for the black book, along with another book, and placed
them on the table. He lifted the black book gingerly off of the stack as if it was electrically charged and slowly opened it. Hasir saw
the tentacle lash out at him again, but this time did not shrink away from it. It latched onto the top of his head. The terrified
Argonian could feel his thoughts being sucked out like they were being forced through a small dwemer tube. Another tentacle shot
out from the page a wrapped itself around Hasir's shoulders like an extremely slimy snake.
Hasir could see an image of a snowy landscape flash through his mind along with a rather fuzzy image of the realm Sheem-la spoke
of minutes before, and vanished just as soon as it'd appeared. The tentacles extracted back into the book; leaving Hasir thoroughly
confused. He asked the female Argonian why the book didn't work for him as it did for her.
Xhiak smiled, laughed and shook her head.
"You have to be on Solstheim for the book to work." He looked sidelong at the female Argonian; uncertain of what she meant.
Sheem-la opened her mouth to talk but Zayirr cut across her, telling Hasir about how his mate read the book and did not suffer the
same fuzzy images of Apocrypha as Hasir did. She saw Apocrypha as clear as day.
Sheem-la cast her husband a scathing glance and said she wanted to tell him the tale first hand not through a third party.
"Go boil your tail, you daft fool, I wanted to tell him!" Zayirr sank low in his chair, a bit ashamed. She beamed with appreciation.
"Right. As I was going to say before that housecat interrupted me, those books only work on the snowy isle of Soltheim."
Hasir eyed her in confusion,
"So, there's more than one?"
Xhiak nodded and launched into her tale once more.
"Yes, there are more than one; seven in fact. Anyway, enough of my rambling, when I used the book, I got teleported to the realm of
the ones who knows." Hasir mouthed the words 'the one who knows', giving her a questioning look.
Sheem-la shrugged and said that it was one of Hermaeus Mora's monikers. Hasir nodded and gestured for her to continue. "Thank
you Beeko. Your kindness is like sun on my scales. If you read the book when you're not on Solstheim you get a brief glimpse of the
island along with a a flash of Apocrypha and the tentacles retract into the book and thus deny you any further insight.
Hasir, Xelzaz and Ingo thanked her, got up, slung their bags over theirs shoulders and waleked to the door. Sheem-la looked at them
in mild dissapointment.
"You're not staying? I have more to tell you about Hermaeus Mora." Hasir shook his head and said he, Inigo and another Argonian
whom she hadn't met have duties to attend to.The female argonian nodded glumly and wished them luck in whatever obstacles they
wish to overcome.
Once outside, Inigo turned to Hasir and inquired what the next step was going to be.
"My friend, just so you know you're juggling to many things at once. Wouldn't it be better to focus on stopping Molag Bal first and
then worry about rehousing Vajhira and the khajiit mage?"
Hasir looked from where Xelzaz sat, his nose in a book about achemy, to Inigo,
"Inigo, if I did stop Molag Bal first and go through that portal, I might never return to ask Balgruuf if Vajhira and the other khajiit can
buy houses in the city. I have my priorities. Besides Molag Bal can wait." Inigo looked at the Argonian in disbelief; putting Molag Bal
last? he could hardly believe his ears. Hasir sighed deeply, "I'm sorry Inigo but you heard the Jarl. If I am to be thane of Whiterun, I
am required to help two or maybe three people iron out their problems. I already helped Severio with his problem, I may have
inadvertanty caused it true, but, I fixed it. Now I have to see if Arcadia or Belethor have a problem that needs fixing. You can go on
without me or you can come with me, your choice."
At that moment, Xelzaz closed his book, stood up and walked over to the other Argonian and put an arm around Hasir's shoulder.
"We'll help you in whatever you need of us, right Inigo?" He said, glancing over to the furious khajiit. Inigo grumbled a reply. Xelzaz
grinned, "Then it's all settled. Lead on."
Hasir lead the way up to the Whiterun gate and pushed it open.
Once inside the city, the two Argonian and the blue khajiit made a beeline to Arcadia's Cauldron. He knew she always had work to be
done and was grateful if someone could take some of the weight of her shoulders. Hasir stepped into the familiar shop that smelt of
the aroma of various alchemical ingredients and walked up to the counter.
"Arcadia you look prettier and prettier each time I see you." The imperial blushed and asked Hasir why he was here.
Hasir raised an eyebrow.
"What? I'm not here for a task. I just wanted to see you, to smell the intoxicating aroma of the ingredients in your shop." Arcadia
huffed in impatience and crossed her ams. Hasir took this as seeing through his bullshit. He sighed and told the alchemist that he
was here to fix any problems she may have.
Arcadia unfolded her arms and leaned on the counter.
"Belethor stopped into my shop the other day and requested for me to make a fortify health enchanment, a drain fatigue
enchantment and a resist magicka enchantment." Hasir looked at her as if she was crazy, he could not do such a thing. He thought
enchantments were learned from an area of magical study and that no layman of such a craft could just whip them up.
Arcadia eyed him and nodded, as if reading his thoughts.
"Yes, you need some magical training to do this. Luckily we have a court wizard here that can teach you the spells you needs to
weave the enchantment into the weapons and armor. Both of which I am sure Adrianne can provide. After you're done with the
enchanted weapons and armor, you'll bring them to Balgruuf so he can ascertain your handiwork. Also he needs it for his housecarl
to make duplicate for the Imperial soldiers." She shrugged, "Who knows, Kodlak might catch wind of these good deeds and let you
back into the Companions. Now, off with you, Adrianne awaits."
Out in Whiterun, The confused argonian turned to Inigo. The khajiit asked what dries the Argonian's scales.
"Inigo, I don't even know where to start." He said, "I mean weave an enchantment? How in Oblivion am I supposed to do that? Not
only that but I also have to ask Adrianne for weapons an armor so I can apply the enchantments to them and then," He said
exhasberated, "I have to take the enchanted armor and weapons up to Dragonsreach." By Hircine, talk about a tough job. I just hope
that Balgruuf finds my work adequate. I also have no idea what he is going to do with them."
Inigo saw the Argonian's tail thrash about like a skeever in a trap and knew that the Argonian was way past above his scales in work.
He was about to say that he just had to take deep breaths, that he was overthinking the whole thing when Xelzaz put a hand on
Hasir's shoulder to stop the Argonian from spiralling in Oblivion.
"Hasir, I have made my fair share of enchantments during my time working for Lord Dreth in Port Telvannis. I also know of a capable
wizard by the name of Farengar. If he can't help you make sense of this, than I'll teach you." Hasir turned his head toward Xelzaz
and told him that he had a deal. Xelzaz smiled and they made their way to the shop by the Whiterun gate.
Adrianne saw the argonian approaching and gave him a cheery wave. She was bent over the table, busily organzing the armor and
weapons her husband had given her. She got so lost in doing this that she failed to see Hasir and his companions standing on the
other side of the table.
Hasir's eyes narrowed as the sun glinted off of the armor and weapons. The argonian looked at the weapons; even testing out their
rigidity. He placed them down again and looked at Adrianne.
"Adrianne, did Arcadia talk to you? Erm... I mean, I received a job from Arcadia." He said; his tail flapping about nervously
The female Imperial looked up from her work on the table.
"She didn't tell me. Would... you mind enlightening me?" She asked
Hasir told Adrianne everything he knew about the job that Arcadia wanted him to do. He glanced downward and muttered about how
he was unsure how he was going to pull it off. Adrianne glared at him and sighed heavily.
"You need to just pick a weapon or set of armor and weave it with whatever enchantment you want to put on it."
Hasir glared, deadpanly, at the armsmistress.
"That really gives me a boost of confidence."
The female Imperial and the Argonian bartered over the weapons and armor on the table. Hasir pondered on what enchantments
Arcadia had told him.
"Well, weapons like sword, axes and two-handers work well with the absorb fatigue enchantment whereas, these," Adrianne said,
moving over to an assortment of armor, "can work exceptionally well with the resist magicka and fortify health enchantments." Hasir
bought a rather exquisite looking nordic longsword and a full set of Nordic armor.
The Argonian thanked her, put the items into his bag and walked toward the Jarl's longhouse with Inigo and Xelzaz following him.
Hasir walked through the market district and climbed the stairs that led to Dragonreach and entered. Inigo and Xelzaz followed him
and gasped at how huge the Jarl's keep was. Hasir had been here twice before as he did not feel the urge to look around.
The Jarl over to Farengar's desk, where he was scribbling out a spell on a piece of parchment, that there was someone to see him.
The court wizard put the quill down on the desk and walked out to the main room, saw Hasir and smiled.
"Hasir, wonderful! Come to my office." He said excitedly
He told Xelzaz and Inigo to stay put while he saw what Farengar wanted. The wizard asked if they knew how to 'weave
enchantments.' Inigo promptly shook his head but Xelzaz nodded and smiled saying that he had some experience in the matter. The
two Argonians followed Faregar to an old enchanting table nestled against the wall a few feet from his desk. Hasir looking over to
Farengar's desk upon which the wizard had placed three spellbooks.
Hasir asked what weaving enchantments was and how it worked but Farengar told him to first retrieve, and read, the spelltomes.
Hasir did so, seeing familar symbols dancing around him only to be enveloped by his body. Hasir placed the now empty spell books
back on Farengar's desk and walked over to the enchanting station.
Farengar smiled at Hasir and Xelzaz with his hand firmly placed on the enchanting station.
"Have you either of you ever heard of spell-weaving?" Hasir shook his head and Xelzaz nodded ethusiastically. "Well, spellweaving is
the art of using a complex hand motion to imbue something with power. In this case, we will be using this art to strengthen weapons
and armor."
Farengar told Hasir to pick an item from his bag and he will show the Argonian how to do it. Hasir smiled as he placed the nordic
longsword on the enchanting table. Farengar frowned as he eyed the weapon. He picked up a dagger from a shelf to the left of the
table instead.
"I thought we would enchant something simpler instead." The argonian scowled at this, "Scowl all you want but do you really want to
start your enchanting journy with something as big as that?" He asked gesturing to the longsword, "I think not. Now, watch me and,
if you are able to, match my moves exactly."
Farengar strenched his arms straight over to dagger with his eyes closed as he was going to enchant from memory. Hasir face
screwed up in unease as the court wizard started tracing a comlpex symbol with his hands and stared down at the weapon. His chin
nearly hit the floor as the dagger started to glow, a faint green outline appearing on the edges of the dagger.
Fanegar stepped back so that Hasir could see the glowing dagger and told Hasir how he'd enchanted the dagger and that he would
like the Argonian to try. The argonian looked shocked at this,
"So what you are saying, is you want me to enchant the same way you did? How the hell am I supposed to do that?" He gestured to
the dagger, "with my eyes closed?" Hasir shifted uneasily on his feet, "Sorry Farengar but if I close my eyes, how am I to see the
item I want to enchant?"" He asked, removing the dagger from the enchanting table and placing the nordic longsword where the
dagger had been.
He glanced next to him and saw Xelzaz grinning at him with a piece of armor with the resist magicka and fortify health enchantment
on it resting on the table. Hasir gaped at the Telvanni Argonian,
"Xelzaz, how in Oblivion did you do that? I could never put two enchantments on the same item; not even if my life depended on it."
Farngar instructed Hasir to stay focused what he was working on not on what someone else was doing. Hasir apologized and turned
back to the task at hand. He extended his arms, palm dow, over the enchanting table, stared constructing an image in his mind of
what he thought the symbol of the 'drain fatigue' enchantment looked like. He weaved his hands in and out and around one another.
He could feel warmth spreading from his mind through his arm ands into his hands. He opened his eyes, mind still focused on the
image, and was amazed to see tendrils of magic extending downward from his hands entertwing snakes and envelope the sword.
Farengar watched, truly amazed, as the enchantment took hold, the weapon glowing green. When the last tendril of magic escaped
from Hasir's feverishly moving hands, Farengar took the enchanted sword as well as the Nordic cuirass to Irileth and instructed her
to make duplicates for the Imperial armor and that he, personality, would worry about the enchantments.
Hasir looked over to the desk and was a bit dismayed when he found bits of armor that did not have enchantments on them, namely
the nordic helmet, boots, greaves and gauntlets. He groaned wondering how on Kynareth's green earth he would manage to weave
enchantments in four pieces of armor. Xelzaz put a hand on the frustrated argonian's shoulder and told him they would accomplish
this together.
After hours of work, Hasir looked happy from the glowing pieces of armor to Xelzaz,
Well Xelzaz, I hope this will suffice." He said with a sigh of relief. Xelzaz nodded as they carried the armor over to the dunmer
housecarl. Inigo joined the two Argonians at the Jarl's throne and asked Balgruuf if he deemed the deeds enough to buy a house in
the city.
Jarl Balgruuf nodded, stood up and adressed the Argonian primarily as Inigo did nothing to contribute.
"I have been told be Adrinne that you were succesful in your endeavors. Very well, I will now hear you out. Tell me about these
khajiit."
Hasir told the Jarl the extended version of the story he'd told him a few days before. A smile curved the Balgruuf's mouth as he said
he'd be delighted to grant Vajhira and Amahka refuge in the city and would personally send anyone who treated them as different to
the depths of Oblivion. Hasir thanked Balgruuf for his kindness and left the hall with Xelzaz and Inigo.
They walked down to the city gate, pushed it open and walked down the cobblestone path to the camp that the khajiit caravan had
set up near the city and went into the largest of the tents. He saw Amakha and Vajhira sitting in a circle with the other khajiit and
called out to the two of them.
Amahka and Vajhira walked over to Hasir, uncertain expressions on their faces.
"What do you want to talk to us about?" They asked, eyebrows raised. "is this, perhaps, about the housing? Did Balgruuf come to his
ense?" Hasir nodded and directed them to the gates of Whiterun. When they exited the tent, Hasir walked over to Inigo and Xelzaz
and sat down.
Inigo smiled and placed his hands in Hasir's claws. The khajiit eyed Hasir warmly, his tail coiling around Hasir's tail,
"My friend, that was a good thing you did for Vajhira and Amahka. Shall we go into the city and ensure they don't get into trouble?"
Hasir hissed in appreciation and said that it was nothing.
"Inigo, I don't think we should assist them in their endeavor, they'll be fine." He said
The blue khajiit ignored this and strode off to Whiterun to see if the Jarl would make good on his promise to give the khajiit houses
inside the city. Hasir shrugged his apprehensiveness of and followed Inigo out of the tent.
Once in the city, Hasir hid behind a rock wall opposite Warmaidens. He did not want the two female khajiit to see him keeping tabs
on them. Seeing the smart blue cat pass by, Hasir whispered to Inigo. He was a bit dishearttened when the khajiit seemed not to
hear him. Frustrated, the Argonian grabbed Inigo's tail and yanked him behind the stoney half wall.
Inigo whipped his tail out of Hasir's hands and straightened the blue fur on it. With his tail groomed to his satisfaction, he turned on
Hasir who had a clawed finger pressed firmly against his lips. To cement this, he told Inigo to be quiet when he opened his mouth.
"Be quiet you damned cat!" He snarled and looked toward the market district. He could clearly see the two khajiit ascending the
stairs up to the Wind District.
Hasir told Inigo that they should proceed cautiously so as to not alarm the khajiit. Inigo began to protest but the Argonian shook his
head and, for good measure, cast an invisibilty spell on the pair of them. Hasir and Inigo sneaked through the city, up to
Dragonsreach and entered. They crept through the hall; only stopping when the neared the fire pit.
Inigo saw the two khajiit walking up to the Jarl's throne and stopping in front of it. Irileth strode up to them,
"Hello cats. Been chasing any yarn balls lately?" She said laughing as the two khajiit snarled, "Go back to your mud huts." She said
with a snarl. Hasir glanced over to Inigo and told him that that was the same way that Aela had treated him. He wanted to expound
upon this but Inigo shook his head and pointed to the Jarl's throne.
Amahka's teeth flashed through the air; catching the dark elf in the arm. Irileth's eyes narrowed as she drew her ebony sword.
"You'll pay for that, you n'wah!" She said, advancing on Amahka ready to strike. Irileth sheathed her sword just as she heard
footsteps. She stepped back from the khajiit just as the Jarl reached the bottom step.
Seeing the khajiit, he smiled uneasily as if he were unsure of why there were there.
"Greeting khajiit, I am Jarl Balgruuf, an Argonian named Hasir told me about you and he wished to give you housing inside my city."
He said as he took his seat on the throne. "I have sent him out to do jobs for the citizens of Whiterun. I would not normally pemit a
Thane to trade his property and give it to another but as that is what he did, I have no choice but to propose that opportunity to
you."
He stood up and paced the floor before the khajiit, "Where is Hasir?" He said, his eyes sweeping the hall, "I was expecting him
to be here so he can witness you two accepting your new house." Hasir reappeared, standing in front of the fire and walked over to
the two khajiit who were trying to determine what a Thane was. Hasir lent close to Amahka and Vajhira and explained the title. They
grinned at him.
Jarl Balgruuf smiled at Hasir who returned the gesture and asked Hasir if he really wanted to do this. the Argonian nodded.
"I've conversed with the Argonian. It is my great honor to bestow upon you both the title of Thane which was previously to be held
by Hasir. The title allows you to live in my city and it also means you'll not be chastized for neither your race or whatever accent you
may possess." His face fell, "It is my deepest sorrow that I only have one house for sale and it is near the amror shop, Warmaidens.
I gather you have no objections?" The two khajiit shook their heads. Balgruuf smiled, "Very well then, Vajhira and Amahka, I grant
you residence there.
Amakha bowed her head in respect but Vajhira looked inquisitively at the Jarl.
"Jarl Balgruuf, I already work in Whiterun, at the, er, chapel near Whitefish river. Wouldn't it be more feasible for me to live in
Jorrvaskr so I don't have to walk through the city? There is already a trapdoor behind the mead hall IU can access."
The jarl considered her words and smiled warmly.
"Of course you can stay at Jorrvaskr Vajhira." The orange khajiit smiled in appreciation. Balgruuf turned to Amahka, clearly thinking
of something, Amahka, if you are to stay in my city, you need work. I cannot abide you to stay in my city and laze around." He said
glowering at the khajiit. "You could work at Warmaidens and be Adrienne's assistant, seeing as her husband is busy selling armor."
Amahka beamed at Balgruuf. She was delighted to have a sense of purpose and she was grateful for Vajhira as well, though she
already know she already had a place of residence.
Hasir smiled to himself and turned to leave when Vajhira embraced him,
"Thank you. I can't explain how much you help my friend and I."
Hasir felt a warmth overcome him that had nothing to do with the fire.
"You're welcome, Vajhira. I just had to try because I saw you khajiit living miserably in a camp much too small for ten khajit to live
comfortably, beyond the walls of Whiterun, a city where bull- headed and rascist nords live." He glanced angrily toward the direction
of Jorrvaskr. He chuckled, "Trust me, I know what it means to have someone hate you for being different and alienate you for it. It
isn't right."
Vajhira kissed him on the top of his head and departed with Amahka toward their new homes. Hasir thanked Balgruuf once more,
walked over to Inigo, who was now visible, and left to find Xelzaz so they could discuss the next step of their plan
Once they arrived at the khajiit camp, they found Xelzaz sitting with his eyes closed with the other khajiit sitting around him and
K'hairi in the center. Hasir and Inigo sat on the outer rim of the circle and wondered what they were doing. K'hairi eyed them and
told them they were praying to Kynareth to praying to her to make the Nords see sense and cease their rascist ways.
The argonian and blue khajiit closed their eyes and could see an image swim before their eyes. The image was of K'hairi pleading to
the nature mother to plant the seed of knowing in the minds of Nords and anyone else deemed a bigot in this cold land.
Hasir saw K'hairi sitting alone in a field rife with flowers and wildlife. On her outstreched claw was a small bird, a canary, Hasir
thought judging from its yellow feathers. He walked through the field in an attempt to listen to the conversation. It was then that
Hasir know that he had supernaturally enchanced hearing and did not need to get closer. He got down in the grass, resiting one arm
on one knee while the other was underneath him, and tapped into his wolf spirit in order to pick up what they were saying more
clearly.
Hasir could hear the rustling of grass and the wind caressed it like an owner strokes his dog's fur. Through the wind, he could clearly
hear voices.
"Kynareth, I wish to speak with you. Many cities of Skyrim frown upon those different from them, myself and my eggbrother
included. I want to help in anyway I can but I don't know how. My brother also sees this, he says nothing but I fear it is happening to
him as well." She sobbed into her hands, "what should I do?"
The canary opened its beak and instead of a chip came a woman's voice,
"My dear K'hairi, you don't need guidance, we divines do'nt believe in meddling in the affairs of mortals like the daedra do. We prefer
to sit back and watch as mortals go about their business, we only one instruct when they have need of us. I hope you know that
even if I did intervene I could not do much. My sphere of influece as well as my creation, is nature, the birds, the wind and the sky. I
am not one to stop sqabbles wherever they may appear. My brother, Hircine, is more inclined to do that. Even if he does act, he can
not erase rascism form this world. It will always exist."
With those less than helpful words, the canary flew off into the field leaving K'hairi alone with her thoughts. The field began to
shimmer and fade. The next thing Hasir know, he was back in the tent with all eyes fixed on a thoroughly downtrodden K'hairi.
A dark red khajiit voiced his outrage at the unhelpfulness of Kynareth.
"So your saying that the gods will not help us? What are we supposed to do, convert every bigot ourselves?"
There was a murmur of ascent at the khajiit's words. A grey-furred khajiit voiced his opinion next.
"I was brought of Elsweyr as a cub. When I arrived here with my parents, we were belittled and made less than others just for our
'strange' was of speaking and choice of fashion. We had our possessions broken and bodies bruised, for no reason at all, other than
'racial superiority'." He swore in Ta'agra, "We should do something even if the gods cannot, we should form a revolt." He glanced
around at the two Argonian present. "I am sure even the Argonians here feel the same way. By Oblivion, the Nords see the
Argonians only as boots for their feet or slaves, not even remotely equal in status to other beings, much like us khajiit; though we
are often referred to as rugs."
K'hairi's eyes snapped open as she was aware of many angry khajiit voice carried to her on the wind.
"Calm down will you, Xuth! You act as though someone stole your yarn ball. patience please." She grow more flustered as all khajiit
present, except for Inigo, raised their voices in protest.
Hasir glanced angrily over to K'hairi and saw she was on the verge of tears. He walked over to her and put his claw in hers.
"You khajiit should be ashamed of yourselves. Begging too much of a poor, innocent Argonian just because a certain goddess won't
here your pleas? I mean, honestly, the gods can't do such as astronomical a task as erasing rascism from Nirn. It would be a very big
ask of them to do so and they have much greater problems on there hands. I am sure you are aware of Molag Bal and his
neverending quest to destroy nature? Focus on that instead of forcing the gods to fix your petty problems. I mean, sure, racism is
indeed a problem but it is not the main problem."
K'hairi thanked him for standing up for her, he told her not to mention it. Hasir's tail rose and fell and he hissed appreciatively,
grabbed Xelzaz and Inigo and left the tent. as he did so, he passed several khajiit, much of whom were still stunned by his speech
seconds before, and out into the cool air. Inigo's forehead creased as he pondered upon what they are to do next.
"Inigo, we've got to get to Karhspire came in order to salvage the key that the Doomstrider stole as well as procure six Welkynd
stones and a dwemer diagram denoting the stones' placement."
Inigo nodded and headed for the stables. Hasir was about to mount his own reptilian steed when he heard the sound of boots coming
up the cobblestone path. He turned and saw his eggsister staring at him. Hasir waved nervously at her,
"H-hi. Why are you here? Shouldn't you be back there ensuring there are no riots going on?" K'hari shook her head and said she was
coming with them.
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