Arrows and Magicka

Nidhel and Thoron, A Bosmeri mage and her uncle who have just moved to Skyrim. Skyrim/TES:V Roleplaying Blog • GMT -5 • Blood/Violence possible • Look at "Important" before interacting Ask Key: - Nidhel answers in plain text. - Thoron answers in bold.

[sagelocks]

halforcsmash‌:

“I just don’t want to get her something practical.” He said it as she started to clear a path through the walking people, Nidhel close behind, “I get that she needs a new alchemy set, and I wouldn’t mind getting one for her as a gift, but at the same time…” He shrugged, pretty helpless at shopping for anyone, even Indes. He switched to Bosmeri, his face heating up from his blush, “I want to get her something that shows her how beautiful I think she is. You know? Something that makes her feel as pretty as I see her, but I don’t know how to do that without coming off as an ass.” 

He looked around the marketplace, noticing a few jewelers, including an Argonian. Korgul’s eye narrowed as he looked a the stall, wanting to head there first for jewelry shopping. He trusted the lizard men when it came to working gold and precious stones, and fair prices when they knew what they were making or selling something for. 

“If you don’t have an specific places you want to go, I think we should check out the Argonian over there. They’ve usually got good things when it comes to gold work.” 

“Oh? Ooooh...”

Nidhel followed close behind, nearly having to jog in order to both keep up with his stride and dodge the rest of the crowd at times. But yes, that made a lot more sense now. Not just any gift. It was also, however, not making this any easier.

“Sure, let’s go see what they have. If we want to narrow down our search though...” She paused to think for a moment, lips pursing as she considered their options. “Trying to remember what I’ve seen her wear the most... Earrings are another thing she wears a lot of, but I don’t know how many of those are from you. I know she sometimes wears bracelets... rings... I know she likes the more unique things. Anklets, bands you wear on the upper arms, decorative belts... things like that. Any of those sound interesting?”

[sagelocks]

@halforcsmash [cont.]:

“I never would have guessed.” Korgul laughed out loud as he said it, following Nidhel into the bustling market. He had snuck her out of the house they were staying in, making her come to help him look for a present for Indes. Something that wasn’t made out of bone or scale or antler or fur for once. Nidhel had taken to the idea much more earnestly than he had expected. They were surrounded by crowds, and he looked around, quite lost to what to even begin to look for. “I don’t want to get her another necklace, you know? I’ve made her like six at this point.” He chuckled, “And then only one she wears is the one with tusk rings on it, and that wasn’t even one that started out as a necklace.”

“I know what you mean. She can be ridiculous to shop for unless she’s made it obvious that she’s looking for something specific.” Nidhel huffed a bit, hands falling on her hips as she started to peer around the marketplace, focusing on signs and trying to catch the words that some of the merchants were shouting. “And maybe when we’re done, you can help me find something for Tural. I have an idea or two, but I’m torn.”

She motioned for him to follow, and then led him to a calmer side of the street where they could stop to talk. “Alright, let’s think. Nothing carved or the like. No necklaces, though I would not rule out jewelry completely. Might want to rule out tools, weapons, and leatherwork...” There was a pause, and then the mage snapped her fingers, eyes lighting up.

“Alright, here’s one idea: a new alchemy set. I’ve seen the set she uses now. It looks incredibly old and worn out. You might could even get a book to go with it, see if there’s anything in it she might find useful. If not that, we maybe could find some sort of hair accessories for her now that her hair is getting longer. I know she likes pins and hair forks. She just needs something other than the bone ones she’s been using, especially for formal occasions.” She turned her head, eyes searching through the crowd. “Though, we may have to see what kind of luck we’re going to have with that. Her tastes are not... easy to jewelry-shop for.”

[sagelocks]

halforcsmash‌:

Korgul laughed softly, shaking his head as he tore into his food. After a few moments, he rummaged around and drew up a water skin, taking a deep drink. He continued to sit there in silence for a few moments, a pensive look on his face as he finished up his meat pie. He drained the skin, knocking ash from his pipe and reloading it with herbs. Korgul wasn’t dumb enough to smoke hallucinogenic shells this close to a transformation, even if he would rather at this point. 

“Why does it not surprise me that Indes was a rebel?” He said in Bosmeri, his voice soft so that no one else that spoke the language could hear him. He reached out, bumping the elderly Bosmer in a friendly way, “I’m more surprised about you old man. Never really pegged you for a weapons runner.” He took another inhale of his pipe, staring at the coals of the fire. While he was light hearted and joking, he was still deep in thought, compartmentalizing everything that Thoron had just told him. 

“Sometimes, it feels like everything always comes back to a war. Fighting. People dying at the blades of another, people having to run from their home lands to avoid the blades of another. Makes me wonder if ever trying to live a life where you don’t carry a blade to kill is even worth living.” Korgul shook his head, a bad taste in his mouth as he emptied out his pipe into the fire. He didn’t feel like smoking anymore. But he was glad that he knew.  “Thank you for telling me. I’ll try and be on my best behavior when we meet Erelion.” 

“Eh, I would use the term ‘rebel’ loosely here,” Thoron said with a chuckle. At the light push, he gave the half-orc a knowing smirk. “You never saw me back in the day when I had a lot less wrinkles and a little more energy to spare. I got restless. And Arrador was like another brother to me. I would do anything for him, just like how I would do anything for Ehte’s father.”

The older mer listened as Korgul went on, his cane occasionally tapping on the dirt and stone below them, but he did not immediately respond. When he did, his tone was notably softer. “Well, if you want, you can take it from someone who had no choice but to put down their weapons for good: you can find a way to make life worth living. You just have to pick a different kind of battle, and a different kind of weapon.”

His last comment got Thoron chuckling. “Oh, I’m not worried about your behavior. Erelion has a good sense of humor, even for a full-blooded Altmer. I just did not want you lost as to who Arrador was if he came up in a conversation.” He glanced towards the others briefly, making sure no one seemed to be listening in. “I know Indes has not told you much about all this, if at all, but I believe that is mostly because she’s had a habit of keeping these things to herself unless someone specifically asks about it, not really because she wants to hide things from you. She’s really just not the best talker, but I think you know that already.” He paused, then switched back to Bosmeris. “Though now that you know, I may need to have this little talk with Tural as well. Or get Nidhel to do it. You think I should spare a few of the details with him?”

[sagelocks]

@halforcsmash [x]:

“No.” Korgul left his own breath of smoke, shaking his head. “I’ve never asked. She didn’t ask why I left home, but she got caught up in it. So I figured the least I could do was let her tell me in her own time.” Another inhale and exhale of smoke, and he sighed quietly, looking up at the stars.

“It’s strange to me sometimes. She knows so much about me, about my life. And I know so very little about her. I don’t want to push her, I don’t want to ask her anything she doesn’t want to tell me.” He reached into a bag between his legs, drawing out a meat pie to eat. The moon was coming on and he was hungry.

“I take it you’re here to tell me why Uncle?” Korgul side eyed him, “Is she going to be angry that you’ve told me?”

Thoron huffed and shook his head. “She has no right to be angry. The way I see it, this is more my story than hers anyway. Don’t hide the fact that you know, but if she says anything, just tell her that I was the one who told you and that I thought it important you knew before you met Erelion.” He adjusted himself where he was sitting in order to get more comfortable before he began.

“I will spare you the details for now, though if you want to know more or if you have any questions, feel free to stop me and ask.” From there, he began to tell about how in his youth he met a half-Bosmer named Arrador, who he became very close friends with before their individual cirsumstances split them apart. He mentioned how a hunting accident caused him to nearly lose his leg and made it so that he had to go live with his younger brother - Indes’ father. He spoke about how he turned to building up his ability to craft weapons and tools since he could no longer hunt, and in that way helped out around the home, especially after the birth of Ehte. But as time went on, he would be reunited with Arrador. Though now the other mer was a part of a small resistance group that were running operations against the Thalmor in Valenwood. Thoron explained that though his abilities were limited, he wanted to help his friend and had a distaste for Thalmor as well, especially after he heard what the Thalmor would have done to Arrador if they knew he was the illegitimate child of an well-to-do Altmer. So he made weapons for them. His brother tried to discourage him out of fear for his family’s safety, but he was determined to do what he could without risking too much.

He paused there, blowing a steady stream of smoke into the air as he finished what was in his pipe and sparing a quick glance in the direction of the rest of their group. “I do not know if you will find the next part surprising or not. Indes gets older and found out what I was doing. She comes to me, wanting to help. I try to tell her no, but she keeps pushing. Then she meets Arrador and convinces him to talk to me about her helping to take weapons to them. Eventually I give in and we do all this without her parents knowing. Worst mistake I could have made at the time, but it happened. And as you could probably guess, things go badly one day and we’re caught trading weapons to Arrador and his group. We get ambushed, a fight breaks out, Thalmor agents are killed by the Jaqspur, and we are told by the others that it would probably be safest for us to leave, at least until we know whether or not the Thalmor were able to figure out who we were. We figured if things went well, we could come back as if nothing happened, but if not, my brother could at least claim that the ones involved were already gone, though he would say that he did not know where we had gone to beyond that we had gone north.”

He cleared his throat, reaching for his small sack of bug shells he brought over with him. “Like I said, there is a lot more to the story, but that is the short version. I can clarify some things if you want, and I’m sure you may have questions, but the main reason I mentioned all of this is that Erelion - the one we’re going to be staying with in Chorrol - is Arrador’s half brother. And just so you know, we lost Arrador a few decades ago during the war. Seemed only right that you knew who he was and why he was important to us if he got brought up while we’re there.”

[starlitmemes]

Some inbox starters from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate for those roleplaying needs! Feel free to mix up wording, pronouns, whatever to fit your needs!

“We fight to gain what we cannot take with us. It’s in our nature.”

“We’re wasting our time out here.”

“You seem to have taken most of my money. Why not take a small favor too?”

“Just when I think you can’t surpass yourself…”

“Every worthwhile endeavor is fraught with dangers.”

“If he believes that will stop us, he’s mistaken.”

“I hope I’m not intruding by being here.”

“Sometimes discretion is in order.”

“I could have sworn you were close friends.”

“Now… was that so hard?”

“With all due respect, I think I should travel alone.”

“At last it ends…”

“Designs are meant to be broken.”

“Have you ever pondered the consequences of your actions?”

“I am nearing the end of my research.”

“They must know something we don’t.”

“You’ve got the look of a man who wants something.”

“If we do not stand together, we are lost.”

“Even the best of us can lose our way when blinded by grief.”

“You don’t give up, do you?”

“He is offering a ridiculous amount of money.”

“Not thinking of jumping ship, are you?”

“It takes a long time to change things. But I’m not going anywhere, [NAME].”

“I sense an opportunity that will benefit us both.”

“I will not allow anyone to bring me to ruin.”

“It’s like gazing into the fortune.”

“Success is more intoxicating than alcohol.”

“Family always stay together in the end.”

“What a wonderful use of your time.”

“Don’t allow personal feelings to compromise the mission.”

“What I think is no longer your concern.”

“One does what one must to come out on top.”

“The world doesn’t need more anger in it.”

“But what good will that do you?”

“Perhaps we have met before. Perhaps not.”

“A vote can be far more lethal than a bullet or a blade.”

“All our efforts came to nothing.”

“A man’s friends are the best measure of his worth.”

“Ideas, like people, can only thrive when they are free.”

“Everyone treated him like he was so bloody special.”

“I can try to live up to his example.”

“Rest. We have a big fight coming.”

“I’d say good luck but you don’t need it.”

“There is no sense in giving you all the glory.”

“Why build, when you can ebb and flow like the sea?”

“When the world is full of nasty things we must tear those things apart.”

“Why did you do it? All of it?”

“Perhaps you should trust my judgement.”

“Once more, for old time’s sake?”

“Those of us with the largest hearts protect them the most.”

“[NAME], you’ve had your fun, but the game is over.”

“Would it be possible to continue where we left off?”

“Only the mission matters!”

[sagelocks]

Morning at the Huntsman [open]

“I’ll be with you in a second!”

The Huntsman was quiet at the moment, as both of the brothers were out on other business for a little while. Elrindir was expected to be back within the hour, but until then, it was Nidhel’s job to both hold down the shop and attempt to organize the arrows and other goods Anoriath had made the evening before.

Once she felt satisfied that the arrows she was looking at were put in their proper places, she turned and instinctively smiled at the customer that had just walked in. “Good morning! How can I help you?”

[sagelocks]

[[ooc— So yeah, I’m trying to get this blog back up and running along with Indes, even if they’re all technically in Cyrodiil too for plot reasons. I might end up reblogging more memes to start some threads, but I may also make an open or two. If you want a starter, just let me know which of these two you want and I’ll make you a starter.]]

[sagelocks]

“Fuck you.”

While rude customers were not unheard of in the Drunken Hunstman, and she had certainly dealt with her fair share of them, the words still hit hard. Especially when all she thought she was trying to do was offer him a kind word with his drink and a little help if he needed it. She felt Elrindir’s gaze resting on the back of her head and could see Anoriath in the corner of her eye, watching in concern from where he sat by the fire. None of it was helping her keep her composure - trying to keep both the words she really wanted to say, and possibly a sob, from rising to her lips.

After a few long seconds, she was able to take a breath and release the tension in her throat enough to speak. “I… Enjoy your drink, sir,” she said, her voice hollow as she turned and walked to the opposite side of the room. She began busying herself with tidying up the cabinet that she had cleaned earlier, letting the light clattering of the mugs and flatware drown out her thoughts.

[-prompt-]

[rp-memes-musings-blog]

Random Starters  Feel free to change pronouns/wording!  “You’re looking awfully happy today, who did you kill?” “I almost came to your house drunk at 3am yesterday, you can thank me I didn’t.” “Is knocking a thing of the past? Last I checked, you don’t just let yourself in.” “I don’t hate you, that requires even a shred of care.” “You look all dressed up, meeting someone important?” “If you come near me again, I’ll make sure it’s your final defiance.” “Get out. Just get out.” “Fuck you.” “Do you know how far I had to run to get here? You owe me an explanation.” “Well, aren’t we friendly?” “Lay off it, will you?” “I don’t have to explain myself to you, or anyone. Now leave.” “I’m uh- kind of bleeding over here, mind helping me?” “Did you honestly think I wouldn’t find out?” “I didn’t know you cared for her/him/them so much.” “Stop, you’re making everything worse.” “I wouldn’t be laughing so hard if you didn’t make a right fool of yourself.” “And there you go again, lying.” “I didn’t think I’d see you here.” “Calm down, I’m not here to hurt you.” “I love her/him/them. I’m sorry.” “How about you fuck off?” “Can we… forget I said that?” “Why would you say that?” “Did you think it would all just work out? Did you think I’d be all forgiving? Well I’m not, and I think deep down you knew that.” “Fine, just throw me away, like you did all the others before me.” “All right, own up. Who touched my chocolate.” “Do you think this is stupid? Never mind, you always see the negative.” “Put that down before you hurt yourself.” “Get on with it then.” “You look nervous.” “Did you hurt him/her/them?”

[occasionalrpmemes]

Sentence Starter Starters

Trying something new with this one. These are incomplete sentence starters- finish them however you’d like and send them in!

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t…”

“Meet me at midnight, and bring…”

“I can’t believe you went and…”

“Please tell me you didn’t get involved with…”

“So there I was, in the middle of the night, tied up and…”

“I’ve never told anyone about this before, but…”

“Don’t freak out! We just need to…”

“It’s just like my mother used to say: always…”

“I don’t want to alarm you, but…”

“Believe it or not, this is the first time I’ve ever…”

“I understand you’re upset, but it’s not really my fault that…”

“I just don’t see why you need to…”

“I strongly advise that you…”

“You really shouldn’t…”

“Wait. Where did you even get…”

“This is a bit of a weird question, but…”

“I never should have…”

“It was all fun and games until…”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but…”

“Hasn’t anybody ever warned you about…“

“This probably isn’t what you want to hear, but…”

“Oh my god, don’t you dare…”

“I’ve been thinking, and…”

“If you want to live, then…”

“I never realized you…”

“Relax. You’ll be fine, as long as…”

More [here]

[tural-amring]

[Tural, Nidhel]

[sagelocks]

tural-amring:

Tural was just glancing up at the door as it opened, and as he spotted the approaching Bosmer, a smile made its way to his face as well. He straightened up from leaning on the wall, and gave a slight chuckle at the greeting.

“A bit of an odd spot ta think, jus’ standin’ by th’ street,” he said, shrugging slightly. “I s’ppose I might ‘a jus’ ‘ad a feelin’ some beautiful Bosmer was ‘bout ta walk out ‘a there.” The smile turned to more of a grin. “Looks like I was right.”

Well that did it. The statement just about sent Nidhel into a fit of giggles right then and there, but she managed to get a hand up to cover her mouth just as the first snort of a laugh escaped her. Still, the smile was evident on her face... as well as a little bit of a blush.

“Oh?” she started, but had to pause momentarily to let out another light fit of giggles. “Did you want to see this Bosmer for anything specific, or were you hoping just seeing her beauty would be enough?”

[tural-amring]

[Tural, Nidhel]

The streets of Whiterun were calmer during the evening hours than in the middle of the day, but still, the dull buzz of conversation filled the air as the shopkeepers began to mingle with everyone else after closing. Realizing as he had been passing by that it was near the time that Nidhel left,   Tural waited outside the Drunken Huntsman, arms crossed as he leaned against the stone retaining wall. He could already feel the day’s training beginning to settle into an ache, and was glad for the moment to relax while waiting on Nidhel’s shift to end. Between him retraining his newly-healed arm, and her busy schedule working for Elrindir, they hadn’t gotten to talk in a while.

[sagelocks]

It had been a long day. Though working for Elrindir itself was rarely stressful, the customers sometimes would be. It had been one of those days where a particularly ornery hunter had come in with a demanding, pushy attitude. Nidhel figured it may have been the result of a bad hunt earlier in the morning, but she was just glad to have it over with.

As she took the path down from the Huntsman, the mage looked up just in time to see Tural waiting nearby. Just seeing him made all of her previous frustrations disappear. She came up to him, beaming. “Hello there, stranger. Are you waiting for someone, or do you just like to come here to think?”

[sagelocks]

(Very Belated) Flower Meme

[[You can see very clearly who’s taking it more seriously than the other.]]

@brielleroux @tortulja @lifesadogfight @wandererfromthenorth @sibjorn @gravecuriosity @bloodshonor @seshianu @sisterofsmash @halforcsmash

[sagelocks]

[III] — A Time to Dance

Besides magic, Nidhel’s other biggest talent lies in dancing. She picked up the dancing bug as a young child while watching a few of the other elves in her home village dance on special occasions or just casually. She would often ask her father and older sister to make music for her to dance to in the evenings while they were doing other things like making dinner or cleaning their hunting tools. But once she finally was old enough to take actual lessons, she became much more serious about it.

She danced all the way into her young adulthood, actively participating in village performances until she moved to Cyrodiil. She went many years without performing while in Chorrol, but eventually gained enough confidence to participate in festivals with other local dancers during her later years there.

Even now, though she hasn’t found any real opportunities to do so as of yet in Whiterun, Nidhel would jump at the chance to perform again. It’s not uncommon to come across her lost in her imagination, humming and stepping in rhythm to some imaginary music while she works or walks around town. She’s far from shy about her love of the art.

[tural-amring]

Slow Recovery (Tural, Nidhel)

[sagelocks]

tural-amring:

Tural only grinned the harder, his expression turning somewhat smug as he bit the side of his tongue to keep from laughing too hard. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped suddenly. His grin turned to a look of disturbed realization as he drew a blank on how to respond. Tural knew that he didn’t actually have that many horse puns on hand, but he hadn’t expected to run out this soon. Looking away for a moment, his brows furrowed heavily in thought, and he was quiet.

After the brief moment of thought, he looked back at Nidhel with a slightly embarrassed expression, and a defeated shrug from his good arm. “Neigh,” The Bosmer said weakly in answer to her last question.

The pause confused her at first, but when Tural gave his shrug of defeat, Nidhel gave her own theatrically smug smile. Tilting her chin upward, she tutted. “And I thought you were supposed to be the king of this sort of thing around here. I’m almost disappointed.” She shook her head, snorting with another light burst of laughter.

“In any case,” she started again, pausing to catch her breath and settle her own giggles, “I would love to go. I’m curious to see what they’re like. I overheard Elrindir talking about trying to sell some things during the race or setting up something. I can’t remember exactly.” Her hand settled on her skirt, and she started to rub the fabric between her fingers. She looked at Tural with a calmer smile, head tilted somewhat. “I never really took you as much of a horse person, though.”

[sagelocks]

[II] — A Little Suggestion

After she began to hang around Jorrvaskr more regularly, Nidhel could see that some of the Companions would occasionally get hurt during training and practice. Nothing extensive or major by any stretch of the means, but her experience as a healer made her worried that a little accident could one day become a big one.

Her solution, which she thought was genius at the time, was to put a small closed basket of supplies such as healing salves, gauze, and other things that might work as first aid in situations where it might be needed.

So now, if she’s ever at the hall during training times or after, she’ll gently suggest that if anything should happen, they need to check the basket. Nidhel knows most of them may be too stubborn to use it, but she lets them know it’s there. The only thing she asks Indes to do is make sure there is enough in there so she can come by and restock it if ever needed.

Send me a ✿ and my muse will react to your muse putting a flower in their hair