"You first. I do not feel like getting a dagger in the back." Manarion growled, voice deep and rumbling, a clear promise of harm if he felt threatened.
Aicendor cautiously lead the way into the nearby inn, his heart thumping in his chest. Somehow, despite volunteering for the High Justiciar’s mission to "recover” Skyrim’s wayward General, he had not expected to actually find Manarion Elahriel. At least not so quickly.
He had almost forgotten how towering and intimidating the mer was, particularly when he was in a foul mood. Aicendor did not exactly feel comfortable in his presence, but this was what he had wanted, wasn’t it? A conversation with the mer who’d broken his friend’s heart.
His thought’s drifted to Elenwen and a pang of guilt tugged at his heart. He hadn’t meant to go behind her back like this. He should have approached her and asked her about her side of things first. But... It had been so many years since he and Elenwen had spoken properly.
Since joining the Thalmor in Skyrim their conversations had been brief and few and far between. Aicendor had wanted to speak with her more candidly and catch up on the years they’d been apart, but there had never been the right moment. Elenwen was often so busy as Ambassador, but even so Aicendor had sensed a reticence on Elenwen’s part to reconnect with a past that still held painful memories for her, so he had not pushed it.
Things had changed recently, however. The departure of General Elahriel and the clear breakdown in the relationship he and Elenwen shared had Aicendor worried. He knew what had happened to Elenwen in the past and he would never forgive himself if he had been oblivious to history repeating itself.
So, unable to bring himself to ask his old friend, here he was attempting to see what he could glean from the former General himself.
Once inside the small tavern, Aicendor made a beeline for a table in the furthest and most secluded corner and indicated for the elder mer to sit.
“Do you want anything to drink? I promise I won’t poison it.” The very feeble attempt at a joke fell rather flat as the mer’s eyes remained quite serious. He had never known the General very well and thus did not fully trust him, but he did not wish harm on him. ...Yet?
‘Not that often. I find it’s more useful to try and do something about what’s troubling me.’
Haaki looks proud of his answer, right up until Trond adds from behind him,
‘Aye, and we all know the sort of things you do to fix things when you’re upset. Let’s just say crying would be preferable. And what about when you were getting annoyed ‘cause you couldn’t aim your crossbow? You cried then. And when Frith was here for the New Life festival and told you about how Minnel was planning all the presents she was going to get you in Cyrodiil. And--’
‘All right, all right, shut up.’
--
What are your darker thoughts like?
Trond raises a conspiratorial hand to his mouth, glancing to the side to ensure Haaki has stomped off and left him alone.
‘Sometimes... I wonder if there is more to life than sweet rolls.’ He leans back, shaking his head. ‘Dark, dark thoughts.’
No need to tell just anyone about his fears of criminals finding his family or the nightmares he’s witnessed in the dungeons, after all.
((I made Aicendor’s (immediate) family tree in Family Echo for reference purposes. There’s some further explanations of who’s who under the cut.
Daeron and Alcaril are fraternal twins, with Alcaril being the elder by approximately 16 minutes.
Iauron died 8 years after his twin sons were born. Daeron barely remembers him.
Nelya died when Aicendor was 237. He took 2 weeks leave from his post within the Thalmor to help his family with his grandmother’s funeral.
Cirill died when Aicendor was 34. His mother, Cirill’s daughter Nesswen, struggled greatly with her death.
Nesswen died when Aicendor was 593. He is still very numb about the fact that his mother is gone. It does not feel real to him and he doubts it ever will.
Eruthea is Aicendor’s half-sister. He is not aware of her existence. Before Aicendor’s parents met, his father Daeron had a relationship with an Altmer named Laelia. They were together for about 25 years and after they split Laelia discovered she was with child. Daeron knows of Eruthea but has refused to acknowledge her as his child and has nothing to do with her. Laelia moved to Cloudrest and brought her daughter up alone. Later in life, Laelia disowned Eruthea after she ran away from home to elope with an Imperial named Reberio in Anvil, Cyrodiil.))
((During his marriage to Lona Narathar, Aicendor and his wife were under a lot of pressure to have a child and extend the Vaneth family line. For seven long years the two of them tried for a baby and were close to giving up when Lona finally fell pregnant.
Aicendor was over the moon at the fact that it had finally happening. He had always loved children and had dreamed of the day he would father a child of his own. Unfortunately it was not meant to be.
Complications arose and Lona went in to labour at 26 weeks. In the early hours of the morning on 16th Sun’s Dawn 4E 126, tiny Miria Vaneth was born, weighing just 1.8 pounds. Her parents knew her chances of surviving were extremely slim and it broke their hearts. After 20 hours of struggling, Miria’s body gave out and she passed away.
The months after losing their daughter were some of the most difficult of both Lona and Aicendor’s lives. They planted a tree together in Miria’s memory in the garden of the Vaneth family estate. It still stands to this day and Aicendor visits it whenever he’s in Alinor. With every visit he brings along a new teddy bear to place at the tree’s base.
Lona and Aicendor never tried for another child after Miria and 28 years later they split amicably.))
((Aicendor’s parents were quite strict with him. He was their only child and thus all their hopes and expectations were pinned on him. They made him study weighty subjects such as history and foreign affairs from a very young age for many long hours every day. When he turned ten years old, he started his combat training alongside his other studies.
It was a lot of pressure for young Aicendor and unfortunately for him, he never met any of his family’s expectations. His intellect was decidedly average by Altmer standards and despite the many hours of training, he was not a fighter. His parents could never really hide their disappointment in their son and Aicendor has always felt guilty for not being the son they wanted him to be.
That said, despite the strict atmosphere his parents set for him at home, his parents loved their son and were often affectionate with him. Aicendor has many fond memories of his childhood.))
((Aicendor was married to an Altmer womer named Lona Narathar for over three decades. The marriage was arranged by Aicendor’s parents after they felt that their son needed some assistance in finding the right womer to settle down with.
Lona and Aicendor had a happy marriage, but their relationship was never truly romantic. Neither party was attracted to the other on a romantic or sexual level and they ever only saw the other as a close friend.
Aicendor only agreed to the marriage to please his parents. It wasn’t until after his mother, Nesswen, passed away that Aicendor found the courage to go through with a divorce. He and Lona went their separate ways amicably and remain friends to this day, occasionally sharing letters between one another.))
1: Origins! How did you come up with the concept for your OC?(Ianthe was basically designed to be the closest character that was like me when I was playing Skyrim. Orcs had a close place in my heart so Ianthe. She went way different when I brought her here. Zilpah was borne out of a need to put some Imperial Legion representation here since the place was drowning with Stormcloaks and it seemed a neat idea. Vashta was basically an attempt to make the evillest character I could. She was gonna be a murderer and loved using costumes to blend in. Again...she’s waaaaay more different now. Intentions ~)
6: What is your OC’s family situation? Do they get along? Do they fight? Or are they alone?(Hoo boy. Ianthe has family but they’re really distant and she doesn’t even know anything about her maternal family. Her dad is alive and is in southern Cyrodiil but they rarely speak. She has an estranged husband too. Zilpah has two siblings who she loves but fights with over small things. Her mother is a Legate in the Imperial Legion - stationed in Skingrad - and her father is a captain of the Hammerfell navy. She feels a bit under pressure from her parents to be in the army but she loves them dearly. Vashta’s dad is dead. Her mum is in the Thalmor and thinks of Vashta as a childish mistake of her youth. They have never had a conversation.))17: Do they have any guilty pleasures? They embarrassed about them? Do they flaunt them?(Ianthe definitely has lewd parchments tucked away somewhere in her spellbooks and would literally blush herself to death if anyone found them. Zilpah’s guilty pleasure is singing cheesey songs that even the shittest bards in Skyrim wouldn’t touch because they are so cliche. This is obviously when she is alone and would always deny it. Vashta doesn’t have any. Everything she does is bold and she either doesn’t care or doesn’t realise how people see her))
