UNFORSEEN ALLIANCES

Part 1

By Elton Robb

It’s happened to be one of those days in the Bee and the Barb.  Talen-Jei, who is an Argonian from Black Marsh, was tending to the floor with a broom.  Like all Argonians, he has the look of a lizard with green scales and a lizard like head.  He had two yellow eyes, and a head full of spikes.

 “Just what I need,” said Talen-Jei cheerfully, “another great day for the Bee and the Barb.”

Keerava, his partner and also an Argonian, replied, ”Yes, we took in quite a lot today.”

“You think you can sleep this time?” said Talen-Jei.  “You’ve been running the inn non-stop.  I think we can get some help to keep the inn running at all hours.”

Keerava, who was of a lighter color, just nodded.  Unlike Talen-Jei, she didn’t grow the spikes on her head.  Her head had spikes on it in a circle pattern, which was what you could expect from an Argonian.  She just yawned, “Lets hire some help tomorrow and see where this goes.  I could use the rest.” 

Keerava then shuffled to her room.  She wore a dress made of green and tan velvet, which shined in the light.  The dress had a mid cut, which showed her cleavage.  Her shoulders were bare except two shoulder straps.  Her dress didn’t have a bell, which was the craze of the upper class, but the fabric moved with every movement.  Her dress was cut so that her tail could be free.  Her tail swayed lazily, betraying her state of alertness.

“I’m going to bed,” said Keerava.  “You just clean up and lock up.”

Talen-Jei nodded as she went to her room.  He was happy to mind the tap while Keerava handled the business side of running the Bee and the Barb.  He finished cleaning up and putting chairs up when there was a knock on the door.  Rap-Rap-Rap.

“Hmm?” asked Talen-Jei.  “Who could be rapping on my door at this hour?”  Talen-Jei opened the door and in fell through a human being.  Wearing white, pure white; he wore a long coat like a duster.  His hair was dark brown, long and curly, and his eyes were baby blue.  His skin was reddish white and the shape of his face betrayed that he was from High Rock – a Breton.  Maybe from Daggerfall or Wayrest.   His pants were made of canvas, also pure white, and his boots – white except for the dark brown soles made of tough leather.  He had a brown leather satchel slinged around his shoulder and neck and resting on his right side. His shirt had some color, white with a blue trim.

“I’m so tired, I came such a long way,” he said.  In Tameriel, most humans were white; except for the people of the desert country of Hammerfell and probably the settlers in Elsweyer that eventually became the Khajiit.  Talen-Jei grew up in Black Marsh, and unlike his brother, didn’t mind the humans.

 “Okay, my name is Talen-Jei,” Talen-Jei said.  “But you can call me Talen, it’s easier.  You speak Cyrrodillic with almost no trace of accent.”

"Really?” said the human.  “Do most humans speak it with no trace of accent?”

“No. Everyone has a slight to thick accent.  Even those from the Imperial City,” Talen explained.  “Let me get you a room for the night so you can be well rested.”

“Thank you,” said the human.  “You’re too kind.”

Talen led the human up into a room and set him on the bed.  He then returned to lock the door to the Bee and the Barb and retired to his own room.  For as long as he could remember, his crèche-mates – and especially his brother Haldan-Kai; didn’t like humans or trusted them.   However, Talen traveled and his travels took him to Skyrim.  He settled with Keerava and both of them went into business with each other.

Talen, however, went to bed with the strange events of the day.   A human, speaking Cyrrodillic with no trace of accent, wearing white . . .  A strange event, a very strange event indeed.

* * *

The next morning didn’t start becoming busy until 9 AM.  The human, however, looked rested as he came down dressed in the same manner.  He sat down and opened his satchel, removing a book to read.   The book was bound leather, and when one of the waitresses arrived, he ordered his breakfast.  Which was shepherd’s pie with some strawberries and a good mead to wash it down.   Talen, however, was busy mixing one of his famous drinks when the waitress, a buxom busty Khajiit, returned with the human’s order.

“Coming right up,” said Talen.  Talen poured cream into this drink – a White Gold Tower, which was a popular mix of his.  He served it up and took the order.  He then got a cut from the shepherd’s pie and put strawberries and mixed a good mead.   Although he wished he knew what the human preferred in a “good mead.”

The busty Khajiit served the shepherd’s pie while the human read and compared notes.  “Here you go, sir,” she said.  “Boy do you read a lot.”

“Thank you,” said the human.  “And I am a scholar, it’s my duty to read and to report on what I read.”

“Oh, what can you read?” asked the Khajiit.

“Ancient elven script, human Hieroglyphs from Hammerfell, ancient Ogham, anything really,” the human replied as he took a bite from his shepherd’s pie.

“Oh, does this make you a magic user?” asked the Khajiit.

The human looked up with a startled look on his face while he chewed.  The Khajiit wench just said, “oh, nevermind.”

The human just went back to his books and got out a map after he ate the pie.  Talen was surprised at how attractive he looked, but then, he was engaged to Keevava.  Well, at least he should ask his name.   When he had a free moment not mixing drinks, and adding that special cream to his beers and ales; Talen went to the human.

“Hey, what is your name?” Talen asked.

The human looked up from his maps. “Call me Yôhanan, or John if that is easier for you.”

Talen then said, ”Alright, Yohanan.  Nice to know your name.”

“Likewise,” said Yohanan. “So, is there anything else?”

“What are you reading?”

“Ancient Skyrim texts,” said Yohanan.  “I’ve been trying to trace the original homeland of the humans.  It seems that I’ve hit a dead end when I studied Redguard texts and all I have to go on is ancient legends and folklore.”

“Sounds like a hard thing to do.”

“It is.  This land used to belong to the elves or mer, the khajiit, and the argonians respectively.   We humans must have immigrated from somewhere else.”

“I hope you come to a discovery,” said Talen.

“Well, already, ancient legends have described a creation – the end of the old world and the beginning of ours.  The last of the emperors was slain more than two centuries ago, bringing the empire into another phase,” said Yohanan.  “As far as I can tell, this may be the fourth Age, but usually the turning of an Age is apocalyptic.  The turning of the fourth age wasn’t all that apocalyptic.  I’m trying to find out why.”

Talen looked like everything went over his head.  “Okay, whatever,” said the argonian.  He left the weird young man to his scholarship.   He often wondered why the attractive young man was so single.  No hard guess as to why he remained a bachelor.   The young man was just too smart for marriage.

Yohanan tried the mead, and finding nothing wrong with it, continued to drink it.  He was trying to make some corellations between the legends of the Nords and the map of Skyrim.  However, sources were scattered and often the legends didn’t agree.   Yohanan just made an audible sound of grief!

“Of all places I have to go visit some tombs!” he wailed.

Talen was taken aback.  “What, you aren’t an adventurer?”

“Most of the time you have to do research,” said Yohanan.  “Now I have to go dig!”

“Where?” Talen asked, curious.

“Darkwater Pass first, and then Septimus Signus’ Outpost,” said Yohanan.  “The first may have some snow elf writings, and the last contains an Elder Scroll.”

Talen just shrugged.  Yohanan was going on a dangerous mission poking around falmer caves like that.  And then even an Elder Scroll, it was just too much.  Since the troubles started with the last of the Septims, the Elder Scrolls were kept in the royal University of Magic.  Talen thought that Yohanan was chasing after legends.  Someone ordered another of his signature drinks – the Cliffracer.  Still, if Yohanan was going on a fool’s quest he should need some help.  Fortunately, he may have some contacts.  He thought if he could talk his brother into helping the unfortunate scholar, everything would be easier.   He didn’t want Yohanan to become falmer food.