Aata, of th' Maormer.
I was a privateer on th' good ship Black Stag, but th' bastard Manmer damaged us t' sinkin' off th' coast of Northpoint. I woke up on a chunk of mast, holdin' on for m' life.
Ended up in someplace called the 'Half-finger' or somethin' or another.
The large mer laughed at the antics of the little womer, leaning his elbows into the bar. His facial tattoos almost seemed to swirl over his milky chameleon flesh, and his pale eyes took in his surroundings. He raised an eyebrow at her remarks, a slight grin tugging at his lips before he spoke.
“A travesty that. Never knowing the embrace of a kitten? A half-life for sure.” Now his grin fully showed itself, and he winked at her, “As for knowing the embrace of a man, she may not be missing much. The men of Skyrim seem… rather small when it comes to size.”
He gestured to his slightly too small clothing, “It makes it hard for a proper sized mer to find good clothing.” He shook his head sadly, "And poor ladies trapped in such a place, with these cold minded men. There's a lack of spice in their lives. Or so I have discovered in my travels," Here he grinned again, "But it is something I do try to fix for them."
I suppose, if I wanted to be technical, I was very young the first time I saw something die. My father pulled a mangō-ururoa onto our boat. It’s a... shark, grey and white. The blackest eyes, the sharpest mouth of teeth. They savage the young serpents, and grow large enough to sometimes fight the war snakes.
My father was a brave man. And the shark tastes good, and his skin is useful for many things, and his teeth make special charms or are added easily to weapons. So he took his club and hit it hard, once, twice, three times. Finally it stopped moving it’s great tail, and we took it home. I still wear the one of it’s teeth in my braids.
I did not feel horrible about the death. We needed food, as always. They get tangled in the nets, and eat the fish inside them, and if we are not careful, the young serpents will be eaten by them. A predator simple became prey due to bad fate, a lesson to us all.
But I doubt you want this technicality. You want real death, mer death. We are a small people, even for mer. So though we are all Maormer, we all still have to fight to survive. Away from the capital, most places are the property of a clan or village, with markers that tell you when you are entering another territory. For reference, my peoples land was known for having many lava fields that constantly opened up and changed, and my people themselves were called the Broken Tooth people. I am actually unsure why. But, enough background.
As I said, we fight to make sure we survive, and sometimes that leads to war. Especially when a pāmu wēra washes ashore. They are giants of the sea, with great fat teeth and big heads. But their lower jaw is small, easy enough to turn into some weapon. And they have much meat, and much blubber fat, and good bones and strong teeth. They are much valued when they wash up on the shore, and it is enough to cause an... argument over resources.
I was a teenager, flush with half healed tattoos and pointed teeth that still ached when I drank cold water or ate hot stew. But we were going to get the meat, and we ran into people from another village, further down the coastline. My fathers village was not a village that bred warriors, but my grandfather had been a great warrior, and had trained many. And besides. We are Maormer, warrior blood beats in our veins.
The battle was joined, for neither side would agree to fair shares of the meat. we called out to the ancestors, showed our teeth, but of course that did not scare others who did the same.
I still remember the shock that traveled up my arm as my wood blade struck the other mer in the temple. He had charged in, an older warrior. Maybe he had wanted this fight. No warrior wants to grow old and feeble and die in bed. To this day, I still don’t know if it was my skill that helped me strike, or his possible desire to leave this world. But I struck him in the temple, and he dropped to a knee, and then I gave him a blow between the eyes with the pommel of the blade.
He did not rise.
We won our battle, won the pāmu wēra meat and blubber. And my grandfather took me into his hut, and he tattooed the fingers of my hand himself, to show honour and glory claim to anyone who seen me and knew how to read the lines.
Death has always been there for us. I do not believe in immortality, or that one can live forever. The constant truth is that death chases us, and any attempts to change that truth are merely lies. You have the opportunity to choose your death at times, but most of us have no option. It comes for us, bandit spear, old age, sickness, the clawing of hunger as you lay adrift on the indifferent ocean.
You can only allow death to come to you, and bare your teeth and go in such a way death fears to take your descendants.
"People don’t always tell the truth when you’re polite."
“People rarely talk to me at all.”
He looked up from the table, pushing his hair out of his face, “Polite or not. The height is somewhat imposin’, I believe.” He snorted, “Or maybe it’s the eyes. Those usually stall conversation.”
“ Bad things should happen to bad people. “
” Rich tits always try for more than they deserve “
“ Whatever the truth is, that belief gives you power. ”
“ Can’t you see why I want nothing to do with that life? “
“ I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty. ”
“ I will not suffer even an unknowing rival. You must die! “
“ Tell me… where is your Maker now? Call him, call down his wrath upon me! You cannot. For he does not exist! “
“ Common ground is the start of all negotiations. ”
“ Though darkness closes, I am shielded by flame. “
“ It spoke of judgement instead of acceptance. It should encourage the good in everyone, rather than rebuke us for our sins. No one should be turned away from our doors. No one is without worth. Whoever you are, whatever your mistakes, you are loved. Unconditionally. “
“ If we’re going to change it, why not change the whole thing? “
“ I’ve known mages. Some of them were better people than me. And yet I’m free and they’re not. It’s not right. “
“ Sometimes you have to figure out for yourself what the pledge to protect others really means. “
" You are who you choose to follow. “
" Took me years to understand what he meant. “
" But wars are won by men. “
" You inspire them. “
" Build on that foundation, and you will have an army that makes nations tremble. “
" We all need to believe there are such men in the world. “
" I needed to believe I could be one of them. “
" We could make the world better. “
" It’s just easier to shut our eyes. “
" It’s not right… to want to do good, to be good, and have that turned against you. “
" At this moment, you are the only threat I see. “
" How seldom does reality match the ideal. “
” We must do so with open hearts and open hands. “
“ I see what must be done, and I do it! I see no point in running around in circles like a dog chasing its tail. “
" At some point, power becomes its own master. “
" They will stand in the fire and complain that it is hot. “
" I want to help. “
" I used to be like you. I’m not anymore. You shouldn’t be either. “
" They forgot about him. “
" I came through to help… and I couldn’t. “
" Isn’t it wonderful? “
" Living a lie… it festers inside you, like poison. You have to fight for what’s in your heart. “
" It’s my duty to stand with you. “
” I’m here to set things right. Also? To look dashing. That part’s less difficult. “
" We’re a lot more fragile than we’d like to believe. “
" Life isn’t about personal freedom. “
" People don’t always tell the truth when you’re polite. “
" We pick the ones willing to make the hard decisions… and live with the consequences. “
" Every great war has its heroes. I’m just curious what kind you’ll be. “
" No real god need prove himself. Anyone who tries is mad or lying. “
" I would not trade it for anything. “
" I hope there’s a damn good punchline coming. “
" The truly great ones can keep their distance. They don’t get attached to their people. “
" I always wind up babysitting my informants and worrying about their families. “
” Heroes are everywhere. I’ve seen that.”
“ That’s beyond heroes. We’re going to need a miracle. “
" For those who value survival, sentimentality is not an option. ”
“ I’m never truly out of my element. “
Send a symbol below to hear my Muse’s thoughts/opinions on….
♔ - Their childhood
♕ - Their teen years
♖ - Their first friend
♗ - Their first relationship
♘- Their first kiss
♟- The first time they knew they were in love
♙ - Their first sexual experience
♚ - Their first experience with death
♛ - Marriage and Wedding Ceremonies
♜ - Having children and Parenthood
♝- Growing Old
♞ - Death
Aata has upgraded (though some would say downgraded) his weaponry!
While he still has some of the original things he had with him in a sea chest, long months with not much to do have convinced him to remake some weapons from his homeland. (which many of the Nords and other races view as strange and unusual weapons, but then again, he is 7 feet tall and blends in with his surroundings, so there is that.
At the sight of the cat, Arzuug couldn’t help but take a step forward and reach out a hand to stroke it. “He’s so cute. Furball, did you say his name was?” She was glad her own cat wasn’t with her so she didn’t have to put up with the constant jealous meowing she got when paying attention to other cats.
"And trying to flirt with me?" Despite her blush, she gave him a sly look. "Trust me, cats can only make that better."
"Cats only help, huh?" He smiled, scratching Furball under the chin, "By all means Furball, start purrin' or somethin' like that."
He bent down, stage-whispering into the cats ear, "I plan on askin' her out to dinner, so help me make a good impression, and there's a piece of salmon in it for ye."
Arzuug pulled a face. She didn’t want to put effort into getting a piercing only for it to end badly. She’d had a piercing go badly in her ear and didn’t want to repeat the process, especially not with a facial piercing.
"That’s probably not a good idea then… Well, you’re the expert, where would you suggest?"
"Septum always looks good." He said quietly, tilting his head to the side and blinking. He was honestly putting thought into it, enough that he stopped paying attention to his body and it began to blend, skin taking on the semblance of the walls behind it. Well, what wasn't hidden by robes anyways. "You know." He finally stated, tapping a finger on his own lips, "You have beautiful lips. Th' right piercin' can enhance them even more."
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