#skooma den

[whosyourvladi]

HAPPY 4/20 I MADE A SKOOMA DEN

[wilgenkatje]

MQ-Prologue

The atmosphere inside the Skooma Den has become.. too uncomfortable. So now I’m spending most of my time outside on the balcony. Once a day I’ll quickly pop in to grab some food; after all I still need to eat. Likely I’m just being paranoid, I’m sure sneaking around isn’t necessary. Even so.. I can’t shrug off the feeling it’s best they don’t see me taking their food. Having lived in there for a few weeks I’ve come to know their routines pretty well and thus far they haven’t blamed me for a missing apple or loaf. Luckily it’s still Sun's Height so the weather is fairly good. There have been a few rainy nights which I reluctantly spend inside, not using one of their beds though. On the first whole day outside I was deadly afraid that the guards would spot me but it seems I had little to fear from them. They don’t look up, they don’t even patrol the square. In a rotten little town like this I guess the guards don’t really care about anything except maybe keeping things quiet. S'Krivva still hasn’t shown herself and I’m starting to plan my way out of the city. I’ve recently met two new visitors to the Skooma Den, Gelephor and Trenus. They said I would be better off trying to find the Thieves guild within the Imperial City. I’m not so sure.. but I can’t wait here forever.

It’s been very lonesome up here.. No one sees me or talks to me. I miss my family so much.. I miss Mamun’s gentle voice as he coaches a few more coins from a customer. I miss helping Vidya with her alchemy and her scolding me for eating the strawberries instead of adding them. I even miss Sukhbir’s terrible singing. I’m not entirely alone though, it seems this town has another forlorn soul. Every night there is a Bosmer standing in front of the statue. Every night he just stands there for hours and it makes me wonder. Obviously I can’t jump down and ask him, all I can do is sit here and I imagine what his story might be. The statue is of an old woman surrounded by children. Perhaps he lost his mother, wife or daughter and somehow finds comfort in this stone sculpture. Sigh.. I’ve made myself sad again..

Notes

Twice a day S'Krivva walks right past the Skooma Den. There is no good reason for Sabre not to have seen her other than pure misfortune. It’s possible she did see S'Krivva at a distance but mistook her for one of the Argonian residence.

Bravil does have other Thieves guild agents but as the occupants of the Skooma Den only know of S'Krivva she’s focused on finding her.

The clothing Sabre’s received from Roxanne are a pair of light brown linens (pants) and coarse linen shirt. This is the same outfit Dro'shanji wears, the gardener at Castle Bravil. Normally the light brown linens turn into a skirt when worn by a female character.. In my opinion it’s a strange game mechanic.

First panel; the sky, mountain and trees in the background are pretty damn awful. I used hot-pressed paper and there are only so many times you can mess with it before it becomes damaged.

First panel; normally when drawing a picture the main character is the center of attention. I’ve purposely chosen not to do that here. It’s symbolic for her situation.

Second panel; I’m happier with how this one came out. The contrast of light and the cool colors of night make it a little more interesting.

12-06-2019

[whosyourvladi]

Skooma Den

[wilgenkatje]

MQ-Prologue – Skooma Den

Say what you will about skooma addicts; that they are useless, wastes of space, vermin, criminals, scum.. to me they were kind, understanding and supportive. They welcomed me with open arms, they SAVED me.

The people inside the Skooma Den didn’t even act surprised, by me bursting in, my dirty appearance or foul odour! Still, once I caught my breath, I felt it necessary to make up an excuse to why I entered so abruptly. A Breton woman got me some water and soap to wash myself and also gave me these.. clean cloths, well they’re cleaner than the ones I came in with. I think they threw my old wardrobe out the front door *laugh*, the moment I removed them they were gone! Had a bit of a panic while I was changing cloths, the bounty poster fell from my shirt and one of the Khajiit picked it up. He looked at it but didn’t seem too interested and just gave it back to me. Maybe he didn’t know what it was, perhaps he couldn’t read. I have to admit, It got me a little worried, perhaps this wasn’t the safe haven I hoped it would be.. regardless, I had no choice, I was stuck here for the moment.

I’ve had some rest in an actual bed, finally! I’ve had a meal; bread and two apples and it was soooo good! The woman, I think her name is Roxy, told me I was welcome to stay for as long as I needed. That was sweet of her but I want this bounty problem solved as soon as possible, I need it to go away so I can leave and find my family. I’ve been trying to get information about the thieves guild but these addicts are hard to communicate with. They mostly answer in shrugs and grunts between swigs of skooma.. It’s strange, I saw my family use skooma all the time and none of them where ever like this.

It’s been a few days now and I’m no closer to solving my problem. Roxanne and the guys don’t seem to mind me staying here at all; using one of their beds or even eating their food, but I don’t want to stay here forever! I felt bad mooching of them so I’ve given them my necklace as compensation, even though it was worth quite a lot and.. I was going to use it to pay off part of my bounty. The necklace was the only thing of value I still had, nevertheless it just.. it just felt like the right thing to do.

This morning I was able to catch Roxanne in a sober moment; she confirmed that the thieves guild does indeed have a presence here in Bravil and that one of their operatives comes by now and again. I’ve asked the other guys and I think they said her name is S'Kriwa or S'Krevva, I’m not sure, it’s hard to get a clear answer sometimes, well, most of the time. S'Kriwha or whatever her name is, is a Khajiit so she shouldn’t be hard to spot if.. *sigh*, I go outside and look for her, but I don’t think I can right now. Hopefully she’ll come by within the next day or so.

Had to hide from one of the Skooma Dens visitors. He looked important and later found out he was actually the son of the count! Luckily he only stayed for a few hours.

S'Krivva still hasn’t shown up and it’s been almost two weeks. I’ve ventured out onto the balcony a few times at dawn and dusk but didn’t see any Khajiit wandering around. Maybe she doesn’t actually live here, or maybe she left? I think the guys can sense my worry; they become agitated when I’m around them. Roxanne has been giving me looks like I’m no longer welcome. The necklace I gave them would have paid for a month’s worth of food and board at a normal inn but I suspect they sold it for far less. The guys gave me some skooma to “calm down”.. I’ve been looking at the bottle for over an hour now, turning it over in my hand. My.. family *deep breath* always warned me about skooma and moonsugar, it’s not for you they said, don’t ever try it. And I never did, but now.. everything seems so, bleak.

18-04-2019

[wilgenkatje]

MQ-Prologue - Bravil

It had been so much worse than Sabre initially feared; she was a wanted woman, with a bounty poster and everything! There was no doubt now, every guard between Leyawiin and the Imperial City would be looking for her.. Coming here had been the right choice; Bravil was her only hope now. This town had a dark underbelly, or so she’d been told. The bounty was a hefty one, but the thieves guild would be able to fix that, for a price. They were sure to be here.. somewhere.. Evening fell before she managed to slip in through one of the cities unguarded waterways. The setting sun had done wonders for the normally drab town; the old weathered woodwork seemed freshly painted in a vibrant rainbow of colors. Under different circumstances she might have appreciated the view but she was in no mood. She had been dirty before, now she felt utterly disgusted. It had been quite a scramble across slime covered rocks and not a particularly pleasant swim either. Sabre had prayed to every god she knew that her Redguard heritage was enough to protect against the diseased riddled filth she had wade through. At the inner dock she’d hidden herself and listened, except for her ever-present belly grumbles, the city above seemed quiet. Even so, it took her quite some time to gathering enough courage to ascend the stairs to street level. No one was about, as one would expect of this time of day, except for the occasional guard and of course.. the skooma addicts. That’s it! That’s the place! If I manage to get in unnoticed I’ll be alright..

15-03-2019

[gamesarereal]