Survival Log for this unknown world I have ended up in. For the record my Earth name is Ellery Kingston. My ID number is 888-3 for all Expeditionary Forces of Earth. As of July 18 of 2096 I have successfully entered a new world. As per the rules of the EFE I am writing daily logs based on my experiences and observations in this new world. With the introduction to my logs done I shall start.
Survival Log Day Two
I woke peacefully from sleep and packed my sleeping bag. I crawled from my small hole in the rocks and continued down the road looking for civilization. At a bend in the road I caught sight of another stone bridge over the river but this one had small encampments of primitive tents. As I approached I began hearing something. I followed the sound down to the edge of the river where I found a strangely familiar plant and its sound.
It was an old memory, deep within but dragged out by this sound. I leaned down and pulled my blade. Using it like a shovel I dug up the plant, root and all. The thrumming sound of the plans died down but played in the back of my mind. I washed the dirt and detritus from the plant and wrapped it carefully in a cloth. I put it ontop of my things in my bags and resumed my travel towards the tents.
As I got closer I observed the tents and the humanoids near them. Four feline humanoids were gathered at the tent, one in fine robes with a sword, one in rugged robes with a bow, one in armor with a sword and shield, and the last had rugged clothes with a fancy sword. The one in armor looked me over but didn't move to do anything. As I approached the one in fine robes stepped forward and greeted me. "Welcome traveler, this khajiit is ready to serve. If you have coin then Ri'saad has wears."
Note: language of this world is understandable as English but has unknown accent.
"Greetings Ri'saad. I have some things to sell and would like to look at your goods."
I pulled out the black blade, strange stone, my bow and arrows, and finally the plant. I saw the cat man's eyes flick to the blade and the plant multiple times as I pulled my stuff out. "How much for these items?"
Ri'saad gave me a smirk and spoke "70 for the nirnroot, 400 for the ebony dagger, 100 for the soul gem, 50 for the bow and 2 for each arrow."
I looked at him knowing he was shorting me. "You buy the dagger and take the rest and give me a proper war bow and good arrows. After that I'll look at what you're selling."
We completed the trade and he handed over 400 gold pieces and a thicker and slightly heavier bow with better arrows. I drew the string back a bit and felt it was around 130 pounds. I hooked my new bow to my backpack and quiver to my hip. I then began looking at what the cat man had for sell. I bought the two ingots of the metal he called ebony, three health potions and a cure disease potion.
I walked away after making myself nearly broke and put my new items away. Past the tents was a large city built into a mountain. I could only see the walls and some of the taller structures but I could tell it was all stone and a brown material. I passed a wheat farm with a mill and some kind of mine, both with people working at them.
I passed by some more buildings and a horde stable on my way to the steps into the city. There was a small line of traders and transporters waiting outside the door but a small door to the side had a line of individuals waiting to get through. I stood and waited for a few minutes while looking at everything I could. I passed through the individual entrance after giving a guard my name and purpose. I was an explorer and adventurer in need of a job.
The man was nice enough to point me towards the court mage of 'Markarth' as he was in need of skilled adventurers or mercenaries. As I entered the city I was stunned by the old and beautiful cityscape of stone and brass colors. It seemed every building had small stone outcrops built to hold twisting vines with colorful blooms. The entrance of the city seemed to be some kind of market as I could immediately spot multiple shops and stalls lined the streets.
However despite the beauty, I could see some ugliness. A shady man was leaning against the wall while looking at the passing crowd. A vendor was yelling loudly about the bloodiest beef in the reach and a house up the street was boarded up with a guard standing nearby. I caught sight of the shady man hide a dagger in his hand as he eyed a young lady at a jewelry stand. As he approached her I stepped near a guard and hit his shoulder to get his attention. I drew my bow at the same time while snagging an arrow. I pointed at the shady man as the guard turned to me and I quickly lined up a shot. I could see him reach for me but he also caught sight of the man revealing his dagger. He turned and reached for his blade but the shady man was already thrusting his blade at the woman's back.
I released and my arrow popped through his wrist and into his ribs, pinning his arm and blade in place. The guard charged him as he screamed and panic started. The guard skillfully slapped the dagger from the man's hand with his sword and tackled him to the ground. Other guards were approaching so I jogged over and helped pin the man down. When the guards pulled me away I yanked my arrow from him and handed a guard a healing potion.
He doused the man's wounds as the others bound him then force the man to choke the rest down. The original guard joined me with what seemed to be a more veteran guard who had a small book with him. As he approached us he spoke "So care to tell me what happened here?" The original guard glanced at me so I began. "I spotted that man when I first entered the city. He seemed a bit shady so I kept an eye on him. As he approached that lady he hid a dagger in his sleeve. I caught this guard's attention and got him to look while I drew my bow. I pinned the man's arm in place with an arrow while the guard charged him, then took him down. When the guards subdued him completely I pulled my arrow and got a guard to give him a healing potion to keep him alive for interrogation. That's when we end up here."
The guardsman collaborated my story and the veteran left to do something else. I slapped the guards shoulder and said "Stay here and watch me." He looked at me and gave a small nod so I turned and walked over to the beef stall. The bustle had resumed quickly after the threat had been removed so I was disguised as I approached.
I waited for a customer to distract the merchant and snatched a particularly bloody chunk of meat. I walked over to the guard as he practically glared me to death. I pulled a cloth from my bag and started cleaning the meat. My suspicion continued to grow as I got a better look at the meat. I pulled my small dagger and sliced into the meat. I like any explorer of the EFE had been trained in anything they could beat into us, whether it was knowledge of survival and combat or investigation and recognition.
As I sliced into the meat I felt it, the feeling of cutting into human flesh. Many explorers had been trained in cold steel combat with deadly weapons against each other. Most of us could recognize the feel of cutting human flesh compared to something like beef or chicken. Many explorer trainees had been trained so much that their minds were constantly paranoid, unable to function in normal society. This also meant that we could see things in a way that normal people might consider supernatural. I had never trained that heavily but I could feel the difference between pork, beef, chicken, and human flesh.
I looked at the guard an spoke "This is man flesh. Who would we bring this meat to, to verify my claim?"
He flinched back a bit this glanced at the vendor I'd taken the meat from. "We'll need to take it to the court mage. He'll be able to use his magic to get the truth." I followed him to the keep but stopped for a bit as he flashed some kind of hand signal to a guard across the street. The guard then took up our original position and looked over the crowd while watching the vendor.
As we continued up to the massive keep of this city I went over how efficient these guards were. Hand signals, response times, area coverage. They were good at this. When we got to the keep he flashed some signs to the guards at the large door and they opened for us to pass. We went through some halls after a grand entrance room with some ruin like structures and strange brass looking constructs. We eventually went up a large staircase with large brass statues of humanoid constructs with a big ball for it lower legs. We passed through another large door and into a museum like area full of more brass things.
The guard spoke as we entered "Master Calcelmo! We are in need of your magic to assist in an investigation sir. Are you here?"
A man popped his head around the edge of a doorway to the side and spoke "Why might a guardsman need my magical assistance for an investigation?" He walked out of the doorway and approached us and the guard explained. "This guy assisted in the capture of a criminal attempting murder, soon after he took some meat from a vender and claimed it was man flesh. I was hoping to find you and get your assistance in verifying his claim."
Calcelmo narrowed his eyes and spoke "Had me this mystery meat. I'll see if it's from man or mer."
I responded by pulling out the wrapped up meat and handing it to him. He unwrapped the flesh and waved his hand over it. A dim green glow lit the flesh and he then conjured a small flame. He put the flesh over the flame and let it burn a bit. With a nod I wrapped the flesh and handed it to the guard. He reached into a small bag at his side and pulled out an empty scroll an some charcoal. He quickly wrote something down and handed the scroll to the guard. "Take this and the evidence to your captain, he can handle it from there." He then looked at me. "You seem somewhat competent for an adventurer? Mercenary?"
I raised an eyebrow at him and answered. "I'm an adventurer and explorer. I've been highly trained by my people in anything and everything they could train me in. Why?"
"I'm in need of someone competent to lead a group of mercenaries to guard the excavators who I have uncovering the Dwemer ruins beneath this city. I need them alive to continue the excavation and I need someone to make sure they don't attempt to smuggle out Dwemer made items. You seem to have somewhat proven yourself to the guard, so I'm inclined to hire you if you're in need of a job, I'll hire you."
I began thinking it over. With a job like this I could get pay and could learn more about this world. On the other hand it could prove dangerous as I would be leading a band of mercenaries to guard people and items from unknown threats.
I looked to the tall man and nodded. "How much is the pay and what are the specifics?" The guard having left Calcelmo led me to some kind of office and we went over the job and everything pertaining to it. I'd be second to the guard captain, Calcelmo, and the jarl.
I finally agreed to the job and began going through books on language that Calcelmo gave me from his library. On my second book I found it was incredibly late in the night so I found an inn near the keep and spent the last of my current gold to get a good room for the night. The door was the same brass like metal as all doors in this city and the entire building was made of stone. I'd seen some other rooms and they were extremely spartan compared to mine. It was decorated with flowers and small plants. Furs lined the floor and walls. The ceiling had a hanging chandelier with some kind of magic light, and the flames of the hearth burned bright and warm. I settled down for the night and began writing this log.
Thus concludes my day one survival log for this world.
Day Two Survival Log COMPLETE