7 C:7 ...ist that civilisation?
Chapter: 7 ... is that civilization?
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Pov: Cinis
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Is that civilization? I'm standing in line here, waiting to finally be let into town. I'm tired, hungry and covered in dust, but because I'm not an Imperial (people), the gatekeepers want to check me out.
That in itself wouldn't be so bad if there weren't a dozen other people and traders standing in front of me and the city guards weren't so lame. It took the guards 20 minutes to search a young woman and her little 3 or 4 year old child and harass the woman in the process.
Who is so bold and harasses a woman with a child when they have just fled a war zone and the woman has probably just become a widow? If the city guard tries the same thing on me, I'll burn him to tinder faster than he can scream in pain.
After a while one of the guards calls my name and I walk up to him. The security guard has a beer belly, smells like a heap of rubbish in summer and looks at me with lustful eyes.
I hate it when men look at me that way. Like being a piece of meat or something to play with and then throw away. Just disgusting, but when you say that out loud to them, the people addressed are immediately angry and try to teach you 'respect', often with violence.
The guard leads me to a door in the guardhouse and knocks. When nobody answers, he opens the door and signals me to go inside. When I stand in the room, the security guard closes the door behind him and sits down behind the small desk at the end of the room, his eyes on me the whole time.
"So elf, what do you want in my town?" The man asks me arrogantly and looks at a piece of paper lying in front of him. He smiles slightly the whole time and keeps scratching his chin.
"My name is Cinis and I am only here because I want to travel through Tamriel and visit different regions." I answer annoyed and look at him sternly.
"There is a war going on between our peoples and you think now is a good time to travel around?" This time the security guard asks me while looking straight into my eyes. He operates a mechanism that clicks briefly.
"As a member of the Mages Guild, I am not part of this war and I refuse to be drawn into it." I answer sharply and look at the guard like he's an idiot. I mean, how stupid does anyone have to be to arrest a member of the Mages Guild or to accuse them of espionage. The guild is famous for its neutrality. I point to my brooch, which proves that I am a healer for the mages guild, and he squints his eyes briefly.
"I still have to search you for security reasons." Says the man with a dismissive wave of his hand, a lustful grin and gets up. He licks his lips and looks at my body like a starving man at a plate full of delicacies.
"Don't you know what you're up to is going to cause a political incident. One who will most likely end up with you idiot and an executioner's ax?" I ask confused and don't even try to hide my disgust for him.
The security guard apparently takes this personally and angrily slaps his hand on the table. Then he gives a short laugh and grins broadly.
I didn't expect what happened after that, and neither did he.
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A visit to the city prison because I beat a security guard into a bloody heap and then burned his 'little friend' with the help of a fireball in front of everyone.
When the soldiers took me away, they were pale and a few were trembling with fear. Fortunately for them, they only arrested me and then took me to one of the cells for nobles and I've been waiting here ever since.
I don't know how long I've been down here, but food and drink are brought to me at regular intervals and not the prison food that you would expect but decent food like stew, soup and fresh bread.
The cell is about 4m long and 2.5m wide with an old but clean bed and a toilet. There is a small table against the wall and a three-legged chair in the corner. My things weren't even taken from me or I was searched.
The prison warden only saw my brooch briefly and then asked me politely why I should be locked up. After telling him what happened, he grinned contentedly and led me to my cell.
Since then I have been sitting on the bed and reading my books about the School of Restoration (healing magic and light magic) again. It's surprisingly relaxing just to read and not wander around in the woods.
However, I had to conjure up my own light source because the lantern that hangs on the ceiling is not bright enough. Fortunately, there is the candle light magic with which you create a small and bright ball of light that hovers over the head of the magician. The whitish light with rainbow-colored flashes has a calming effect and illuminates the whole room.
It should be lunch time again soon, as I get hungry again. What is there to eat this time?
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"You, prisoner. Here is someone who wants to talk to you." Call the prison guard outside my door and unlock it. The door opens with a squeak and in front of it stands an older man in a grape-blue magician robe and a white, belly-long beard. If the old man wasn't so fat I might mistake him for 'Albus Dumbledor'.
The old man and I examine each other briefly and he looks particularly curiously at my brooch. After the old man clears his throat and takes a deep breath, he begins to speak.
"Healer Cinis, student of Archmage William, is that correct?" the old man asks me, looking me straight in the eye. I don't know what he has planned, but if he's half as smart as 'Dumbledor', I'll have big problems.
Yes, that's my name and my teacher's name. Unfortunately, Archmage William passed away about a year ago." I answer and explain at the same time why I am traveling without the company of William.
"That is unfortunate. Your master was one of our best masters in the school of incantation. But that doesn't explain why you're in this town or why a man is now a crippled eunuch." The old man replies and begins to look around the cell.
"If a disgusting, lustful man wants to search me on the pretext that I am not an imperial, even after I've shown him my brooch and identified myself as a member of the Mages Guild, I'll defend myself against it. Even if I may have overdid it, at least I didn't resist the arrest." I explain and nod as if my reaction didn't end in a pile of human misery.
Both the old man and the prison guard moan slightly but for different reasons. Because while the prison guard holds his hands in front of his 'little friend' and turns slightly green, the old man looks at me as if I am a small child who does not understand what it did wrong.
"Are you aware that because of your idiotic action, a conflict has broken out between the garrison and the local branch of the Mages Guild. The guard you attacked is the local Centurion's little brother and the nephew of the mayor's wife." The old man explains to me and looks at me with a disappointed look.
I have the feeling that the old man is of the opinion that I shouldn't have defended myself and should have just accepted the harassment and possible rape. Unless the old man comes up with a good explanation quickly, his future is strongly tied to that of an aphrodisiac-filled troll. That paints a picture in your head, where even the 'goblin slayer' turns green.
My mood is clearly noticeable because the old man clears his throat slightly intimidated and then begins to cough softly.
"I think there should have been a less violent solution." The old man says quickly and with a slight croak while watching me worriedly.
"Certainly there was such a solution and another magician would certainly have had the tact to use this solution, but I am convinced that such life forms as the security guard should not get the chance to reproduce." I answer and give him a righteous look. No matter what the old man might say now to reprove me, it would leave him standing there as if he approved of a possible attack by the security guard and in a week he would be expelled from the mages guild and possibly the target for an assassination attempt by the female members of the guild.
The old man begins to sweat and turn pale, but that he is also shaking slightly can be seen in his hand, which he tries to hide in his long and wide sleeves. The prison guard, on the other hand, looks only slightly confused and unsuspecting at the old man.
After a while of silence and the fact that the old man tries to calm down, he starts talking again.
"I don't think we should go into this any further. By the way, I am the local guild hall master of the Mages Guild, my name is Igor and I sincerely hope that you do not plan to cause further problems in this small town." Says the old man / guild hall master and nervously licks his lips.
He seems smart enough to understand that my position in the Mages Guild as a healer is higher than his as a guild hall master. Only one in about 50 magicians has a talent as a healer and only a few of them voluntarily take part in the training that is necessary to reach a high level in the school of restoration (healing magic).
Anatomy, alchemy, basic knowledge in necromancy, diseases, epidemics and even more medical knowledge is necessary to be recognized even as a healer in the mages guild. But you have to be able to do a lot more for the brooch, similar to the difference between an emergency doctor assistant and a surgeon or a professor in medicine.
"Should I let her go now or not?" The prison guard suddenly asks and looks confused at the hall master. I don't know why all the idiots are always around me. Of course they'll let me go or the consequences will be really bitter.
If the guild has to fear that its members will be locked away or harassed, it will certainly withdraw from the city. Without the Mages Guild, most mages and alchemists will leave the city and that could be the downfall of the city.
Quiet giggling I get up and put my bag over my shoulder, I put the cloak in the bag until I can clean it up properly and slowly go to the exit.
"Maybe we should talk somewhere that's more convenient than here, isn't it?" I ask with a smile and squeeze past the old man through the door. Fortunately, the prison guard moves aside and avoids even coming into contact with the fabric of my coat-like robe.
As I walk down the hall towards the stairs, the hall foreman runs after me and tries to keep up with me. When I get to the stairs, the guild hall master holds me back by the shoulder and looks at me sternly.
"You have already caused enough problems in this city. I have contacted the other guild hall and after I have brought you to my hall you will travel to 'Skywatch' with the help of a portal. Whatever you do after that, don't come back here." The guild hall master explains to me, slightly out of breath, and I don't like what he is suggesting.
While the old man is talking to me we went up the stairs and are now in a sparsely furnished room where the prisoners are searched, at least normally. The chief guard of the prison sits behind his table and only briefly lifts his mug in greeting and then does whatever he has done before.
I nod back and walk across the room to the door. The door is reinforced with enough iron to forge a whole armor set including a sword. When I try to open the door it doesn't move. Laughing, the guard throws me a key ring and continues to watch me curiously out of the corner of his eye.
I shamelessly ignore the questioning look the guild hall master throws at me and unlock the door. Then I swing the door open and offer the old man with an exaggerated courtly gesture to be the first to go through. The guild hall master just rolls his eyes and walks ahead.
Before I follow the hall master I throw back his key ring and close the door behind me. When I turn away from the door, the first thing I see is an exercise yard with wooden stakes in straw armor and something that looks like a primitive version of a weight bench.
The guild hall master is already waiting for me at the other end of the courtyard and impatiently waves me over. I go to him quickly while the soldiers who are practicing in the yard watch me suspiciously and sometimes with concern.
When I stop in front of the guild hall master, he looks at me disapprovingly for some reason unknown to me and leads me to the guild hall. We walk by pretty much every important shop in town and I can only say that I've never seen such a shabby town.
Peeling paint, broken walls, dilapidated houses and beggars everywhere who look like they haven't had anything to eat for days, but the further we go towards the guild hall, the better the condition of the buildings and the street.
When we arrive in front of the guild hall, most of the buildings are in excellent condition with gardens, walls and glazed windows. For me this is proof that the empire has been eaten away by corruption since the emperor's disappearance.
Can't wait enough to finally travel to Skywatch. Just get away from this stinking city full of idiots. When the guild hall master opens the door of the guild, about two dozen magicians of different races and genders await us in colorful robes.
"Is she Cinis? She looks cute for someone who beat up a man in public and then castrated him." Notices an orc in a brown robe in amazement. The assembled magicians then look at the orc as if he has grown a second head.
"As long as it is a woman, you would also find a 'Naga' (snake woman, intelligent race, completely scaled with a cobra-like neck wreath) cute. Why does my brother have to be such a fool?" The orc woman standing next to him hisses in frustration and hits her brother hard in the stomach with her elbow.
While the siblings start beating each other up, the other people present just watch and even place bets on which of the two will knock the other down first. After a few minutes, the male orc is lying on the ground wailing and his sister is sitting on his back, breathing heavily, with a big smile.
"I want a share of the profit." The orc woman, who is sitting on her brother, calls out with wide smiles and falls back, obviously tired. I'm not sure what to make of the whole situation because it seems like this is something that seems to happen a lot.
"I assume you're here because of me. So what do we do now after watching the match and the bets have been paid out? " I ask out loud and am ignored by most of the people present.
A high elf comes over to me, stands next to me and looks me in the eyes with a condescending look. In doing so, she plays with something that I can only call a stress ball.
"Actually only I came here to pick you up, but the others are here to see how you will react to your orders from the guild." The high elf explains to me in a condescending tone and I immediately realize why I can't stand high elves.
"I can understand why the guild wants to punish me, after all I have crippled someone in public and probably worsened the relationship between the guild and the empire through my action, but why should I pull off a show because of an order?" I ask confused and tilt my head.
The high elf laughs briefly and leads me to the other magicians. These have set up in a semicircle as if they were judging me. The high elf stands in the middle of the formation and pulls a roll of parchment out of her hip pocket.
"Cinis, on behalf of the Mages Guild, I present you with your new orders, which will also be your punishment." With these words, the high elf hands me the roll of parchment and grins as if she has drunk a whole bottle of Skooma (TES: version of cocaine or heroin, strong drug).
When I open the parchment roll, it's about half a meter long and most of it is in lower case text. The more I read, the more frustrated I get. In short, the guild gives me an apprentice whom I am supposed to teach for a year.
A house in 'Skywatch' is provided for me and I am supposed to work as a city healer at the same time. All of that wouldn't be so bad in itself if 'Skywatch' weren't on 'Auridon', the second largest of the Summerset Islands, the buffer between the main island 'Summerset', home of the High Elves, and Tamriel.
I fall on my knees and shout a loud "NO" to the sky. More like the ceiling because we are in the guild hall but the gesture counts, especially when there are spectators.
"I told you that Cinis, when she reads her orders, puts on some melodramatic show." An old dark elf in the clothes of a Telvanni magician calls out and collects several small purses that his colleagues are reluctant to hand over.
"Do I get some of the profit too?" I ask the old dark elf and he tosses me two of the purses without hesitation. Better little than no profit at all. Still, he could have given me more.
"Are you ready now? I have two students who have probably set fire to my guild hall by now and a daughter who likes to experiment unsecured with alchemical ingredients." A muscular and bearded Nord throws in, nervously tapping his left foot on the ground at regular intervals.
"Sure, the show is over now. I'll take care of the rest when we're in Skywatch." Says the high elf, waving her hand as if she were sending the other hall masters away.
"Arrogant witch. If you hadn't cheated while playing cards, Cinis would be serving her sentence in my hometown of 'Blackrose'." An Argonian hisses and nods good-naturedly to me.
I nod back and, to be honest, I would rather live in Blackrose, which is located in the 'Black Marsh', surrounded by swamps and the 'Hist' and not in a city of the high elves with the likelihood that the military there will try to recruit me.
Not to forget the Thalmor (secret service and secret police of the high elves, indoctrination of their agents and assassination of dangerous elements in the people, protection of the queen). The Thalmor are particularly suspicious of other races and are ready to kidnap and torture anyone they suspect until they know everything they want to know. Fortunately, I belong to the mages guild, otherwise the Thalmor would immediately arrest me as a spy.
"Are you ready to leave?" the high elf asks me and at the same time opens a portal to the guild hall in Skywatch. She seems uninterested and bored.
I just walk past her through the portal and show her the middle finger. I don't care right now that this gesture is unknown in this universe. I'll just use this gesture from now on and start the cult of the middle finger.
After I stepped through the portal I stood in a hall made of marble and uselessly many gilded decorations. Who needs gold lanterns studded with jewels? As I look around with incomprehension, a snowball flies right in my face.
In the snowball there are small chunks of ice that have flown straight into my nose and now I'm sneezing and coughing in the middle of the guild hall, surrounded by a purple-red barrier that hums angrily.
Whoever is responsible for it gets a good lightning bolt right away. Today's punishment is sponsored by Zeus and I personally will carry it out.
After I caught myself again and conjured up a handkerchief with which I wiped off the remains of the snowball, I looked at the people in the hall.
Three older adult magicians with the badges of masters from different schools of magic and a child about 12 years old. The child tries to hide behind the three masters and has another snowball in his hand that slowly melts.
When lightning formed in my hand and began to crackle, someone from behind put a hand on my shoulder and cleared his throat.
"It would not be advisable to zap your student with a flash on the first day." The guild hall master explains to me and I, annoyed, throw the lightning bolt at one of the training dummies standing in a corner of the room.
The doll then catches fire and I look invitingly at the little girl.
"What are you waiting for, throw the snowball before it melts." I say and roll my eyes. I hardly get along with other adults, how do the hall masters think it will end when I have to look after a child for a year.
The girl uncertainly throws her snowball and uses it to extinguish the burning doll. She looks at me afterwards and I can literally smell that she is afraid of me. Her fear will make learning so much more difficult.
"Master Mirella." One of the three masters greets the guild hall master politely before he looks at me condescendingly. "Is that the healer you said would take over the position of Tallian for the next year. She looks young and inexperienced and I'm not sure this is a smart idea. Should she make a mistake or accidentally kill someone, the reputation we have worked on for so long will only be damaged."
I only listen to the arrogant high elf until he starts to portray me as incompetent and show him my brooch. Most magicians who study the School of Restoration (healing magic and light magic) look ageless or age extremely slowly, but still most expect to see a wrinkled old person.
When the high elf looks at the brooch he pales slightly and starts to apologize, but I ignore his flattering words. Instead, I looked at the guild hall master and gestured to the door.
"I have a portable home. All I need is a free space of around 30m by 15m. Is such an area available in the city or do I have to set up my home in front of the city?" I ask in a tone that will not allow contradiction.
"Next to the guild hall and the pavilion, in which we practice illusions, there is an area free, but it is unsuitable for building anything there." One of the two high elves, who has been silent so far, explains to me with a sly smile.
Also smiling, I go to the door and wave briefly over my shoulder.
"Send the little one to me in two days." I say out loud as I close the door behind me. I'm now in the front yard of the Mages Guild and several of the students look at me as if they had never seen a dark elf, which is probably the case. As I walk past them I hang my brooch on my shoulder and go down the stairs and then take the path to the right.
After several minutes of walking, I stand in front of the pavilion that the high elf mentioned and see that there are several young high elves trying to create illusions or manipulate the emotions of others. A really interesting school of magic, albeit greatly underrated. Emotion control, memory manipulation and similar skills characterize the masters of this magical school.
There are three paths away from the pavilion, but I am not interested in them. I go to the rock wall west of the pavilion and prepare to use elemental magic, but only after creating a barrier to protect the surrounding elves.
I stamp my right foot and move both arms as if I were pushing something heavy. In response, the rock wall splits and enters about 60m deep, like a crack in a mountain wall. With another stomp and a two-handed movement, as if I wanted to tear something in half, the gap widens to about 3m wide.
Then I stand, a little out of breath, in front of the gap that has just been created and take a deep breath. I still find it entertaining that elemental magic bears a ridiculous resemblance to the elemental taming in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
After my breathing has calmed down, I go to the end of the gap and begin to create an area with an approximate average of 40m. But I have to reinforce the ground and partially change the cliffs so that the mountain does not collapse or break off the cliff or endanger the foundations of the house.
After I have finished my work, I stand in a half-open cave in a small mountain on a cliff next to a town full of high elves. I'm sure that tomorrow a group of soldiers will ask me a few questions about the security of the city, but not my problem, guild hall master Mirella should take care of the problems.
From my pocket I take the milky sphere in which my house is sealed and try again to read the runes that float in it, but it is still a Daedric alphabet soup. I put the sphere in the middle of the artificial valley and go to the gap that is also the entrance to the valley.
After the sphere has pulled off its thing with the scanning bubble again, my house is in front of me again, only this time a note is hanging on the door knocker. When I pick up and open the letter, there is only an invitation to a gathering of the Daedric Princes in a little over a year. One would think that it is a little early to send out an invitation this early, but considering that daedra perceives time differently than mortals, it makes sense again.
I wrap up the letter and then summon an earth atronach to create a garden in the open space around the house. With another movement of the hand, a path made of irregular stone slabs appears. The walls of the crevice become smooth and the image of a wild forest with hidden animals appears on them.
At the entrance to the gap there is an elegant archway with floral motifs and an inscription that says 'Witches Garden'.
During the whole process the students and teachers of the Mages Guild watched me. While the teachers watch my work and the magic performed with surprise and write down notes, the students only watch with astonishment how a clearing protected by cliffs with a wide gap, house and garden, emerges in front of them.
I'm sure this was the first time students saw raw elemental magic at this level without a supportive ritual.
Athena (owl) suddenly flies out of my shadows and begins to give orders to the Earth Atronach how to lay out the garden or let the trees and bushes grow. Tomorrow at sunrise the Atronach should be finished with the garden.
'What will happen tomorrow', I think to myself as I close the front door behind me.
