The Sharpest Shot in Skyrim

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

<”Thank you, sera,”> Lohren spoke and made an attempt to stand up, though it was a little awkward at first as a wave of dizziness washed over him- Maybe he had just stood up too fast? Though it could just as well be the adrenaline wearing off, but he told himself to pay little heed to it. It would go away in an instant. He did his best at trying to conceal his wooziness and merely shook his head before standing as straight and proud as the situation allowed. At the back of his head he could almost hear the muffled voice of his father berating him for standing more like a worthless lowborn beggar than the proud noble he was supposed to be. He would also compel Lohren to either cut his hair or keep it in a ponytail- but that he always did. No matter the situation. He did not miss the man in the slightest.

<”I would hate to greet death so soon after evading it. Or at the very least, be robbed of my possessions.”> Weather or not this was an awkward attempt to jest or just him being civil was lost to the mage himself and he was quite unsure how to proceed with this situation. Did the guard expect to get paid? Would he rob him if the “charitable gift” was insulting?

<"I will just change to a something that does not have a giant hole in the chest. Just a minute."> And with that he walked over to his backpack and began rummaging through it, hoping to at least find a shirt to wear underneath the robe to protect him from the weather.

#twodunmer #lohren #ambushed!#oh dear this is old #WIGGLES FINGERS THREAD REVIVE

The other dunmer was very strange, Aegreyl decided. Very fidgety and quirky and nervous for seemingly no reason (nevermind that his carriage was now out of commission thanks to bandits killing both the horse and the driver). He scuffed the road with the bottom of his boot as the civilian tore through his backpack, looking for new clothes or something. At least, that's what Grey thought he heard; he wasn't very good with dunmeris to begin with, and this mer was obviously a native speaker, given that he spoke so quickly and precisely.

Flicking his ears around nervously, the soldier groaned. He couldn't hear any more bandits coming, but being so out and vulnerable in the open made him quite anxious indeed. He was a hunter - meant to be sheltered by dappling light in the boughs of the forest, not standing idly in the midst of freshly dead Nords. After a brief moment of thought, Aegreyl shuffled over to the crouched dunmer, and, taking the cloak from his back, offered its protection to the civilian.

<"I know 't ain' much, but 't'll 't leas' cover yeh' 'til we get tah' Solitude. Call 't well-found'd paranoia, but I ain' one fer standin' ou' 'n th' open fer too long. We need tah' get movin'.">

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

<”They were… of better quality than I had expected to find.”> For a backwater province like this, the mage spoke but let the last part remain unsaid. Backhanded as is were, for a dunmer- one born and raised in Morrowind no less- the compliment was as good as one would get from him.

The mage moved his gaze to the road and let his eyes wander from the trampled dirt to the trees and told himself their shapes were very odd and interesting. He opened his mouth but closed it again as if deciding the thought wasn’t worth uttering. It wasn’t as if he was averting his gaze from the other or anything. There were simply other things to look at.

<”I.. will just follow this road then..?”> He began, eyes flickering to the guardsman then back at a rock he had found particularity interesting. <”How far from it am I?”> Almost asking weather or not if he should stop by at the nearest inn or continue until he reached his goal. He wanted to think he did not ask for any further assistance, considering how very little he wanted to spend time with the imperial dunmer, but should he get lost on the way and be in need of directions he would no doubt be in a need of a translator- or another dunmer, considering how bad his nordic was.

#twodunmer #aegreyl u have such a backwater accent no wonder lohren doesn't wanna be around u

Aegreyl could see that the other dunmer was... moderately not at-ease. In fact, he seemed twitchingly nervous, more interested in surveying the trees and the road as opposed to making eye contact. Whether he was just shaken from the encounter or some sort of socially awkward was unknown to the sniper, but he held his patience. Perhaps even, this dunmer's vulnerability inspired more of a protective instinct in him. It was his duty to protect a citizen - even one on visit from Morrowind.

<"It's a good mile still up th' road, friend,"> he explained gently, <"If yah' wouldn't mind, I would rather escort yah', 'n case ther's more bandits in wait. I... uh... not all th' way to tha' gate, 'f yah' don't want, tho'. Basic'lly once yah' get to tha' stables on th' outskirts, yer in tha' clear, so.">

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

The silence that followed was welcomed. Though he couldn’t quite decide if it was the pause from the imperial dunmer’s horrible accent of just being allowed to take a moment to collect his thoughts- in silence- that he treasured the most. Lohren wasn’t quite sure when he closed his eyes but nonetheless when the comforting magic had faded away he opened them and looked down at his chest. He could still feel the pain from the cut, or maybe it was just phantom pains he was experiencing, and he couldn’t suppress a sad sigh at the now gaping tear in a robe he quite liked. In spite its nordic origins and design.

Jet black eyes darted up and he locked his gaze with the guardsman, then down at the scar and then back up.

<”It will scar.”> He spoke, not entirely- in fact, far from it- pleased with the work from his fellow dunmer. <”But thank you nonetheless…”

The thank you did sounded less sincere than the mage had intended, he was not stupid and he knew the guardsman had very much saved his life but he was still a bit upset at how this supposedly peaceful trip to Solitude had changed so drastically.

The wounded dunmer did not seemed very pleased with Aegreyl's patch job, despite his verbal thanks. He inwardly scoffed at such arrogance - Perhaps he'd rather bleed out in the wilderness than be scarred! How horrible to have your insides where they belong! - but sighed patiently with a forced smile.

<"Don' mention it,"> he said briefly, paused, and then, <"Er... 'm sorry about yer robes... They look... erm, 'xpensive. But, uh... there's a good clothier 'n Solitude. 'm sure yah' could find somethin' just 's nice, 'r nicer..."> He seemed genuinely put-out by the damage done. They looked like such beautiful robes...

<"Well, I guess, 'f tha's where yer goin', that is. I would assume so, considerin' this 's tha' main road up there.">

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

Was he just shushed?! By this imperial- The nerve of…! Oh no use getting angry, he’d only succeed in bleeding even more on his coat. Still.. being hushed like a child…

Wanting to look anywhere but the cut, Lohren tilted his head away from the imperial officer, and the deep cut, and locked his gaze on the road ahead. Though he was used to healing magic, he had lost count on the number of experiments that had gone wrong and ended in catastrophe, he still got a bit nervous whenever it was someone else’s magic that healed him.

["If you are at all talented in restoration then I doubt you could make me feel worse than I already am."] He replied a bit dryly and did his best to try and relax somewhat. Maybe if he closed his eyes and rested for a moment then this would be all over much sooner…

#twodunmer #oh god this is old this is so old but I felt like writing a reply #mini have mercy

Aegreyl scoffed. <"Ain' real talen'ed wit' 't - jus' kno' how tah' patch meself up, 'n, occassion'lly, a cit'zen 'n need,"> He was already pushing away the other mer's robes to get at the bare wound and narrowing his concentration. With a shrug, he noticed that his dunmeris had lapsed in a few places. No matter - linguistics were secondary here.

A couple of strained minutes passed, the two of them silent, as the Imperial officer did his work. Sighing, he let off the spell and inspected the skin again. It was nowhere near a perfect job, but at least the skin had scarred over. Only traces of a scab were visible, and would not be problematic if picked at or strained.

<"Well, 's not beautiful, but you'll live. Might wanna go see a healer still, though, just to be on the safe side.">

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

Lohren managed a smile, though with his default frown it looked more like a twitch than anything else. [“I suppose I should be lucky I am still in once piece.”] While he shared no particular love for the empire he did feel somewhat comforted that this officer was dunmer, but even if he weren’t, to decline any further help would just be foolish- especially since he had no potions of spells he could rely to heal him.

The mage walked over to the carriage and tried to look for a comfortable place to sit, he did not and decided instead to lean against the side. He slowly removed his hand from the wound. It was completely soaked in blood- his blood- and the fact that some of it was still somewhat warm did not ease him in the slightest. [“I don’t suppose you have a healing potion lying around, sera?”]. Talking- breathing- hurt. He preferred if he didn’t have to breath at all but you can’t apparently have all you wish for. [“You wouldn’t happen to know the fastest way to Solitude, would you? I was on my way there but I have no idea if I am even close to my destination.”]

The other's lip twitched oddly; Aegreyl allowed himself a chuckle. Native dunmeri always seemed so cross whenever he spoke to them, incapable of smiling and all. Well, of course, and he had a huge, bleeding slice in his chest. Should probably take care of that.

<"Shhh - one question at a time, eh? Don' strain yerself..."> Aegreyl knelt down as the other dunmer settled against the side of the carriage, and peeled away the clothing over the wound. It was deep, but not terrible, and probably not anything he couldn't handle fixing up. He knew and practiced enough healing magic to fix himself up in tight corners, or to sew himself up until he could manage to get in town. Perhaps this would be one of the latter cases, but he would do his best to see otherwise.

<"Hold still. 's gonna feel weird, alrigh'?">

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

Was he fooling himself or had he been so lucky that it was a man, or in this case mer, of the imperial law that helped him? Apparently so. Still cautious, who knew if the officer payment or anything of the sort in return- corruption could be found everywhere, he stepped out of the safety of the forest and rejoined the carriage on the road. Corpses lay scattered here and there and the smell of burn flesh alone was enough to make most people nauseous, but the dun mer reasoned that the dead men had met a suitable fate and did not dwell on the scenery for too long.

“Thank you, [sera],” he said, lapsing into dunmeris though mostly out of habit, it was something he always did when speaking to another of his kind. he still had his hand on his chest trying to convince himself it it remained there then the cut wouldn’t hurt so badly. “I’m ashamed to say they took me, and him,” he nodded at the dead driver, “by surprise. No doubt they would have killed me and, uhm, made off with my gold and other possessions had you not helped.” He spoke with a heavy accent and hesitated a bit at some parts when he spoke as he was still unused to speaking both Cyrodilic and Nordic.

Ah, the passenger was a dunmer. Er... native to the homeland, Aegreyl assumed by his very heavy accent. He himself was fluent in dunmeris - thanks to his parents - albeit a bit rusty, and certainly with all the grace of a beached horker.

Clearing his throat, he choppily explained, <"Yes, well... Yer luckeh' I came along, then, eh? Jus' doin' m'job, tho, realleh' - makin' sure e'erone's safe 'n all."> He smiled sweetly, hoping it would help break any tension. Aegreyl knew not everyone trusted the Imperial Army, especially in these times. <"Ahhh, er... Looks like yeh' took a good whack t' th' ches' there, tho'. Mind 'f I take a look at 't?"> He motioned a hand toward the gash in the guy's chest, bleeding through his clothes. It looked really bad, but he didn't want to administer care or touch him unless there was express permission to do so.

He was a man of honour, after all.

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

The sky looked awfully dull from where he was laying. Save from the somewhat brown but snow covered trees and branches, everything was an even grey or white-ish colour. For a moment Lohren was somewhat disoriented and had even managed to awkwardly be felled by a tree root as he wobbled away to safety, though, at the sound of arrows he was reminded that the ground was not a safe place to hide. One by one the bandits fell and Lohren started to wonder if he might have been caught in the crossfires of a fight between to rival bandit groups. If such were the case then he could probably barter his was to safety- meaning he’d probably have to surrender his coin purses- and maybe even his coat! Oh, by the three… Lohren cringed as he lifted the hand from his chest, it wasn’t the sight of blood that made him uncomfortable, rather, the sight of his own blood being somewhere it should not be. On his coat, hands and forest floor. He got to his feet as gracefully as his wound allowed it and send a murderous glare the the attackers’ direction.

With only two outlaws remaining he sent a pair of fireballs at them. His precision was a bit clouded by his temper but one it the mark spot on and sent the victim flying, and he would most likely not get up after such an impact, whilst the other hit the last one on the shoulder. The fire furiously burned through the leather and fur armour and it had scarred most of the bandit’s face- She quickly took flight when he realised he was the last man standing.

Now… All he had to do was to clumsily heal the cut, his restoration spells were far from potent, and mentally prepare himself to meet whoever it was that aided him. He prayed to the three that it wasn’t another lawless individual.

Just as he was about to fire a fifth arrow, a huge fireball shot out of the woods, incinerating one of the bandits, and scattering the last. He gave a trained look over the scene for stragglers, but it seemed as still as it had been just minutes before. Slowly, he allowed himself a breath, and to put away his bow and the extra arrow. The place was a mess, but at least someone made it out alive...

... Or at least he hoped.

Like a cat, Aegreyl hopped down from branch to branch, until he was low enough to simply drop to the ground with a roll to soften his fall. His footsteps were feather-light as always - a trained assassin could never be heard coming unless he meant to be.

Though, with caution, he called out to the passenger he had seen flee into the forest.

"'Allo? Citiz'n? 'mperial Off'cer at yer service - yer alrigh' t' come out. Think they've all gone 'n all," the dunmer cringed as he rounded the front of the carriage where the driver had been shot. Sloppy work, dirty shot - work of amateurs, but it would be expected of mere bandits.

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

They were upon him in an instant, or, at lest it felt like it. While he did manage to burn one of the ambusher’s friend rather badly, said victim was at that moment lying on the ground clutching his chest, the other had little trouble outflanking him. He could summon up a whirlwind of fire but such spells required a moment of deep concentration and time, neither he had to spare at the moment. How his father would have scolded him if he saw him like this. True, the mage had have combat training, as basic as it could be, but his focus had always been elsewhere during practice sessions. Oh bother..

They were all yelling one thing or another at him. Get on the ground, On your knees, Stand up, Hands in the hair, Hands down etc. etc. One even argued that they should cut off his thumbs as he had heard that “mages can’t do no magic without no thumbs.” Imbeciles.

As if his ancestors were watching out for him, an arrow- seemingly though no where- cut through the air and instantly killed the man as he was shot. Not wanting to let the quick moment of confusion go to waste, Lohren shot one fireball at the Khajiit to his right, successfully setting its fur ablaze, and made a daring dash from the side of the carriage to find safety among the trees.

The dunmer managed to tackle one bandit but just barely had time to sidestep a battleaxe that threatened to cut open his entire torso, at least enough so its descent would kill him. He let out a pained cry when It did manage to cut him form his collarbone down to his lower ribcage but he would no doubt live through the cut. Stumbling into the forest, and with a hand on his chest trying to ease at least some of the bleeding. Lohren was many things but he was not a fighter. How was he going to get though this situation alive? Would a mysterious arrow appear out of nowhere again?

Aegreyl narrowed his eyes down at the scene - one of the bandits had sliced the poor passenger across his chest, and as a dutiful Imperial Officer, he would not stand for it. While the citizen hobbled away into the forest, the sniper again took perfect aim, and within a second's breath he had sunk another perfect shot. The battleaxe-wielding bandit, with an arrow through his brain, flopped lifelessly over the cobbled road.

Now the dunmer set his sights on the khajiit, who was advancing quickly toward the victim's hiding place. He would not even catch a glimpse, as Aegreyl skewered his windpipe for a third kill. As he knocked his fourth arrow, he prayed to Kynareth the citizen was not mortally wounded, and that he could cross enough ground fast enough for the rescue once this was over.

He released another arrow, and fell another man.

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

It had been a slow journey from Whiterun, the road to Solitude was surprisingly calm- not even a single frostbite spider had so much as been spotted on the horizon- and to frank, the dunmer was bored. He had halved hoped a dragon might swoop down just so there would be a break from the carriage driver’s never ending chin wagging.

He took a deep breath and dragged a hand down his face, maybe if he closed his eyes the journey might go fast. Maybe. A rather odd sound caught his attention then, well, somewhat caught his attention. It sounded like the buzzing of a fly or some other insect except one small detail made this noise particularly odd. The bugs he were familiar with were not active during winter. They would die from the cold… Still he didn’t bother to lift even one of his eyelids. Skyrim was an odd province after all.

The carriage driver stopped talking mid sentence and let out a choked cry- he probably bit his tongue, the fool- but when the wagon started to sway Lohren turned around to cast and angry glare at the moron who apparently had forgotten how to drive.

“Mind the road, will you?” he snapped, “do you want-” An arrow had pierced the nord’s throat and the poor thing was with its dying breath clutching at the shaft trying to pull it out. It was quite a gruesome scene to watch. Another buzzing sound, though this time Lohren knew it was not some mysterious insect, passed his face and the dunmer snapped back his head as it entered, and vanished, from his view. With a curse he shot a fireball at random, hoping to at least slow the attacker down, and leapt from the carriage and took cover on its side. Bandits were the last thing he needed right now, he thought to himself cursed once again at his bad luck.

Aegreyl's ears flicked as the wind brought him a peculiar sound, though one he was infinitely familiar with. Bowstrings snapping. Arrows slicing the winter air. He trained his ears in like a rabbit, and his eyes darted around for even the tail-end of a hunter - though judging by the halt of the carriage up the road, he rather suspected bandits.

The crest of the hill hid the carriage from his sight, and so the sniper clambered ever higher into the pines, casting a backward glance every now and then to see--

Oh, a fireball. Well then.

He highly doubted any run-of-the-mill bandits knew such a caliber of magic. It was whoever was attacked defending themselves - a citizen in need! A damsel in distress! Aegreyl grinned to himself. Oh, how he loved to play the hero.

Sure enough, as his vision rounded the scene, a pack of burly men and women clad in shoddy hides and flailing war-axes around had surrounded the carriage. The driver was dead - flopped over on his bench with an arrow jutting from his neck, and the horse - well, was nowhere to be seen.

Perching firmly along the branch, the sniper drew his bow with practiced perfection. Already, he was calculating projections based on wind, distance, and altitude. When he was sure his bead was a flawless killshot, he loosed the arrow, and grinned triumphantly as a single man fell.

#twodunmer #aegreyl #lohren #starter #miniiiiiiiii

Ambushed! [Aegreyl & Lohren]

Damn horse running off again. As much as he adored the mare, Ereli spooked far easier than his previous horses, giving the sniper more legwork than he was paid for; sometimes, he would walk a mile or more through brush and forest looking for her after a spat with some wolves or a bear. He should have known better to take her on his way back to Solitude... Should have taken Noah or Thanloth; at least either one of them wouldn't throw him off at the sight of a fox.

As he whistled and clicked his way at the side of the road, he heard the distinct sound of a carriage rolling up the road. Naturally, he ducked out of sight behind and then up a pine tree, where he would have the vantage point not only to find Ereli, but to see just who it was on their way through.

He crinkled his nose; she was too nice a girl.

“Yea’, well… ‘t ain’ ‘xactleh’ th’ best foot t’ start a frien’ship on.”

“As I said, that’s not something I had a choice in.”

She seemed worried that she had made him upset. Her shoulders fell, revealing her dejected feelings.

#khalran #((I'm sorry bby Q____Q))

The dunmer let out a small, tempered sigh. He really needed to work on his patience with the citizens...

"'f course... Ehhh... Sooo... I ain' seen yeh' 'round 'ere b'fore? Yeh' new t' Solitude? Visitin'?"

em-elir-deactivated20130401

Old Friends [Grey + Emelir]

“Tch, ‘f course. Always have been,” she said, her grin fading to a slight smirk, if anything. Quickly, she fell into step beside him. His sigh threw her off, and she dismissed it as tiredness. Emelir listened intently to his updates, nodding occasionally.

“That soun’s nice. Not too quiet for yeh? It’s a shame that yah moved before I moved out there, yeah? Coulda run into each other more often, eheh. How’s Whiterun treatin’ yah, then? Long ‘n borin’ shifts prolly give yeh lotsa time teh chat up the citizens ‘n stuff, eheh.”

Aegreyl shrugged. "Naw, 's not too quiet I guess. Good hun'in' ou' ther', pleneh' 'f work t' be found when 'm off-duty... th' loc'ls 're... nice..."

He sniffled a bit, a crack in his heart aching to tell her of his wonderful, loving, handsome boyfriend out in the city there, but he didn't know how she would take it... The two of them had been close in the past... very close...

"But I ain' home much; kin'a like ol' days, heh. Contracts still take meh' ever'wher' 'n th' province 'cept Win'erhold, n' usu'lly they jus' have meh' patrollin' up 'ere when they kno' they're waitin' fer a job t' come in soon, so... 't'll be a day 'r two I think, 'n I'll be on th' road 'gain..."

#emelir

“As you wish, Grey.”

She smiled sweetly.

“I hope we can be friends despite the greymage antics.

#khalran #((really? it's working for me))

He crinkled his nose; she was too nice a girl.

"Yea', well... 't ain' 'xactleh' th' best foot t' start a frien'ship on."

“Tch,” he scoffed, “A good whap ‘n th’arse ‘s wha’ keeps th’ buggers ‘t bay. Ain’ seen a single one ‘f ‘em ‘n ‘f I do - well they’re gonna be targ’t practice fer th’ best snipe north ‘f th’ cap’tol.”

“I prefer not to solve my problems with violence. I will confront them if what they wish for me to do is something completely against my morals.”

She sighed.

“Now then, my name is Khal’Ran. You are?”

He almost rolled his eyes at the statement, but blew a sigh from the corner of his mouth instead. As a soldier, he had to uphold the image of the Legion, and he would continue doing so unless he was out of uniform.

"Name's Aegreyl-Szingr - jus' call meh' Grey tho'. Aegreyl's a damn mouthful 'n too damn prisseh' fer someone like meh', eheh."

#khalran

em-elir-deactivated20130401

Old Friends [Grey + Emelir]

“Eheh, always lookin’ out for me, eh snipes? Yeh haven’ changed a bit,” she said with a chuckle, and playfully punched his shoulder. Emelir smirked at him; he really hadn’t changed much at all.

“That’d be real nice. So, ‘sides the ‘not much’… what else ‘ve you been up to?”

"'m a man 'f hon'r, Em - jus' doin' m'duty," he chuckled low and started to saunter onward on his route. She'd said he hadn't changed... but he couldn't help the heavy feeling they would have to change... He sighed and tried to push away the already-rising inhibitions.

"Well, eh... y'know, moved ou' t' Whiterun recen'leh... Was livin' 'n th' Rift fer a while, but m'roommate 'n I couldn' make rent so we packed up 'n settled ou' on th'tundra, heheh. 's nice, I guess. 'e keeps a bit 'f a farm, 'n sells potions 'n poisons 'n wha'e'er else 'e cooks up. 'f course, me... livin' a soldier's life still."

#emelir

“Hmph,” he snorted. “Well, yer luckeh’ ‘m ‘n a good mood t’day, ‘r just plain not somebodeh’ else. ‘s dang’rous kissin’ strangers, lassie.”

“I am well aware. However it is not always my choice. Greymage magic is unfortunately unavoidable to my knowledge.”

She shrugged, sweeping her hair back behind her.