Memories

At this time, in the same cave, Arkon was sitting at a square table in a secluded corner. He was writing something down in a small book, apparently a diary.

POV Arkon

It is now 4E 175, the Month of Sunset (November), the 25th day, Fredas. An alliance with the Richmen is just around the corner and I'm sure they'll agree, it's probably over that there will be some changes to our treaty, but they're not critical. But I do not allow external affairs to distract me from my research and training, although about the second… Ah ... it seems like I haven't been training for a long time, warming up, yes.

I'm still working on my new discovery! Although the results are a little different than I expected, but I think it will bring me a lot of gold and connections. Thanks to that, I will be able to develop our mercenary group. At the moment, we are known throughout Skyrim, although it is mostly rumor, but still, fame is fame.

It seems that I never wrote about us in my own diary, I should correct this, because one day I will pass my notes to my heir, the one who will take my place. Although I'm not sure that the structure of the group will not change by this point, but ... I think it will be useful.

Let's start with the story. History is an important and integral part of any group, organization, or State. It is often on it that everything rests. And so, once, and about ten years ago, I met... my friend, the Archon. Ha ... I agree, it's a strange name, but it was for me and the others – it's Mufalt, Nemesis, Hrankorn, Linoveta, like ... father?

It's strange for me to call someone a father, I grew up in Skyrim, in an orphanage and never knew... okay, okay, I think the Archon will curse me from Sovngrad, even though the orphanage was a moderately cruel place, but we were taken care of and taught a lot. Nemesis and I came out prepared for peace. To say that the first two or three years were hellish for us is to know nothing about Skyrim and the Nords.

Because my friend was one of the high Elves that many in Skyrim despised, we couldn't find a place to live or work, and even the damn bandits wouldn't accept us, although that was just as well. Why did I turn to the bandits? It was all terribly simple, I was still hired for a job, the truth of which was hardly enough for me alone, but when they found out that I was helping the aldmerka, I was immediately kicked out, and not only from work, but from the city or the village, no matter.

In general, we decided to try ourselves in the bandit business, as there it was possible... to gain experience, even if it was risky, but to die in battle was an honor for us, despite the fact that we are elves, and besides, a relatively quick death than death from hunger and poverty.

I still remember that incident with horror and self-contempt. I arranged for my friend and I to meet with the head of the nomadic clan and he would decide whether to accept us or not. Nemesis and I hid our faces and hands so that nothing would betray our races and went to the meeting. The leader of the clan was Nord. He was as big as a bear, and when we got close enough, we were hot and scared.

Everything was fine, at first, but then one of his subordinates came up to us and whispered something to him, at that moment in me, which clicked and I quickly pulled my left shoulder away when something flashed by. I looked at the leader, and he was looking at Nemesis, trying to see something in her, and suddenly said what I was afraid of:

"It looks like your companion, a girl, and possibly a woman." Let her serve us and you will join.

Before I knew it, he was already a step away from us and a powerful blow sent me flying a meter away. My breath caught in my throat, and I felt like I had a huge hole in my chest. Meanwhile, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hood fly off and the leader's face contort with disgust, the words he said I will remember for the rest of my life:

- Poof! This is an inhuman abomination!

I tried to get up despite the pain, but all my attempts ended in failure, Nemesis was already lying next to me. That face still haunts me in my nightmares, which have become rare for me, but this ... this one haunts me constantly. Once a month, I remember exactly that situation, just as clearly as I did then.

Tears, a dazed look of disbelief and fear, a red mark on his cheek and a small trickle of blood from his nose…

Then ... then I was filled with rage and anger... towards myself. It's been a long time and I've long since come to the conclusion that no one was to blame for that situation, neither me nor Nemesis, but... an unpleasant and incomprehensible feeling fills me.

After that, we never tried to join the bandit clans, we wandered around the kingdom for about six months and in every city, village or small settlement we were dipped in mud... to say that we were used to it? No, it's not. In the end, we got tired and went to live in the woods, where no one would find us.

So we would have lived, until one day a whole battered and wounded warrior appeared in front of our house. We helped Tom Nord and it turned out to be the Archon, we thought that he would be like the others or just leave, but everything turned out to be completely different from what we expected. This man, filled with jokes and sarcasm, did not leave us alone, he began to teach us different types of martial arts. Fighting with swords, cutlasses, two-handed weapons, staffs, hand-to-hand combat, and much more, he was a good teacher.

Often during breaks, he would tell us about his travels and teach us, he was not at all like a Nord... or... he was exactly the Nord that each of his people should be. He really didn't know magic, just basic spells and he wasn't very good at them, but he made up for it with his... shouting.

Yes, yes, it was the cry that greybeards use and taught us, although my friend did it, just awful, but I'm not quite good. We often asked where he came from, about his past, but never received an answer, all that could be heard from him was that he was from the people, that he honored the unity with nature.

Soon we began to travel, because according to our teacher, we had a lack of experience. As the journey progressed, we became more recognizable and slowly, but the Nords ' contempt and hatred for us decreased, although it did not disappear altogether.

Soon we met Mufalt, who was driven out of the fortress by his own relatives. Why? Because he was smarter than they were. As strange as it may sound, Mufalt is much smarter than his relatives, and sometimes you can hear ideas from him that even the most intelligent representatives of the elves will not be able to think of. Mufalt was... just as much an outcast, but he met us and went with us. Maybe I'll write a book about our history in detail someday, but not right now.

Linoveta and Hrankorn we met a little later, Linoveta is a smart and quiet woman, she was once beautiful, but now her face is covered with scars and burns, as well as most of her body. Hrankorn was somewhat similar to the teacher and quickly joined our ranks.

We had disputes, fights, disagreements, but we learned to resolve them peacefully and soon formed a group of mercenaries, headed by the Archon. Did we know that our group would fail on almost every mission? No, we trusted the Archon, our leader, too much, and we paid the price.

The Archon was a good teacher, a father, and ... and a storyteller, but he was a terrible leader. He took on any task, without question or discussion. And once we took a task that became cancerous for you, then it was about a year since the formation of the group and we completed only two, three tasks and then thanks to luck.

No information, just a place and a thing, and a large sum of money. It was a Dwemer ruin mixed with ancient Falmere ruins, and it was huge. A lot of monsters, mechanisms, traps and riddles, but surprisingly we have reached the end. We found a lot of treasures and equipment, but we couldn't take it back, because at the very beginning Nemesis and Mufalt were injured, which made it impossible for me and Hrankorn to fight properly, as we constantly supported them.

The archon took all the monsters on himself, we only occasionally killed someone when they approached him from behind. So we reached the end and there we fell into another trap. Why did the first leader of our group die there? There are many answers – fatigue and hunger became the basis of everything. The archon gave his life and ... apologized for being a bad leader, and I felt helpless again and began to cry. The first and last time.

We didn't even have time to say goodbye to the first leader of the Hevnorak mercenary group, our... father, mentor, and storyteller. The archon handed me the mask and told me never to cry again, and if I couldn't, I should hide my face behind it, it would give me strength and confidence.

How many truths and lies were there in this? I don't know, and I don't want to know.

On that day, the first generation of the Hevnorak mercenary group died and a second, stronger one was born.

After the death of the Archon, we re-formed the group and began to carefully select orders and build a web of connections. Now the group consists of more than 50 professional mercenaries of various races.

The structure is as follows. The Archon is considered the most important in the hierarchy of the group, followed by his Deputy Archon - I, then the right and left hand-at the moment it is Mufalt and Linovet, after the eyes of the Archon - this is the place for Nemesis, the ears of the Archon-are assigned to Hrankorn. We have discussed this system for a long time and now often, someone mentions that it is necessary to introduce a new one, but no one is ready for this.

When the group was first formed, it was the Archon who proposed this idea, then we considered it stupid and incompetent, but surprisingly it works and works properly, although it requires adjustments, but until a new Archon is appointed, there will be no changes.

Our group has a clear charter according to which only the Archon can make changes in the system. Also, all members of the group obey the Archon implicitly, only the deputy and the leaders of the bodies can argue, but not challenge the actions of the Archon. As a deputy, I cannot directly give orders without the consent of the leaders of the bodies, but I have the right to receive a full report on the actions of all members of the group, except for the Archon.

There are several ways to become the most important person in our group. The first of them is to defeat all the leaders of the bodies in their midst and get full rights of the Archon, the second way is the simplest, election. If 90% of the entire group is ready to call you an Archon and swear, then you enter on the full rights of an Archon. The third way is to get approval from the leaders and the deputy, but then you become an Archon on incomplete rights. The fourth way is to receive the blessing of one of the higher beings of the group. They include: Akatosh, All-creator, Magnus, Herma-Mora, Azura, Boetia, Mephala, Lorhan, Auri-El, Malakat, Kinareth, Zenithara, Arkea, Meridii. In this case, you also enter into incomplete rights... let's call them inheritance rights, but they are different from the third method.

The leaders of the bodies accept into their ranks only those who are considered worthy, they train them, but the chosen one can enter the composition only with the permission of either all the leaders, or the deputy Archon or the Archon himself.

Each organ specializes in its own profession, and as such each organ belongs to a separate race, although there are exceptions. The deputy has no direct subordinates, only a student, in the number of three people. The archon has direct subordinates, he also has a separate guard of ten people, but now they are not. The leaders of the bodies have two guards and only, the deputy does not have a guard. Also, an heir can be appointed as an Archon, the deputy is not such. The heir can be anyone, but he can become an Archon only in the four cases described earlier .

Perhaps in the future, the system will change and the heir or Archon will wonder if it is safe to keep the group's secrets and information in a diary? I will answer this question. Yes, I may not have reached the level of an expert in magic, but I can put locks on books, and not everyone can open a diary.

That's probably all for today. Greetings from the past.