C58 Splash

Though, this time, I wasn't going in quietly. I'm going to make a bunch of noise while pissing off people who won't be able to do shit about it. I'll just say that Riften's about to be shaken up by a dovah killin, Thu'um spittin, zero fucks given dude, with no patience for places that smell like shit and honey mixed together.

— —

My eyes are closed, as I listen.

{Cling—cling—cling}

My armor makes a rhythmic clattering with each step I take. It's not annoying, but instead pleasant, and almost... spellbinding. So much so, that I can't help but let myself fall into a trance, letting my mind go blank as I float in and out of awareness. The sweet smell of honey that tickled my nose only enhanced the experience. I continued travelling, unconsciously, and perfectly happy within my little bubble of tranquility, for an unknown amount of time.

At least, I did, until—it—happened.

'It' was something so unbearable, so repugnant, so abhorrent, so—so inconceivably inconceivable, that it tore me from my delightful cloud of ethereal bliss, and plunged me straight into the gutters of Oblivion itself! That... that something which so ruined such a rare moment of existence was—the wind.

It changed direction.

The sweet scent of honey, which had so graciously offered itself to me, was brutally abused and battered, then pushed away and forced to return to whence it came, leaving me to face the culprit alone.

T'was but a mere draft, a stray breeze, a small gust. And, at first glance, it was just as any other—however—held within was something of the foulest, most awful sort. Underneath the smell of mold, rotten fish, and alcohol, was the foul stench of thoroughly fermented, stagnant waste water.

It was of such a level, that a Sload would find it a delicacy.

"Grr," my eyes shot open, as I was abruptly pulled from my walking meditation, "What in the absolute fuck! How could people live with that much stink constantly surrounding them!?" I was neglecting the fact that my sense of smell is now many times greater than normal people, and to them, it may smell perfectly fine, "{Cough-cough}—did Sheogorath come down—{wheeze}—and shit on Riften, or was it some other Daedric Prince!?"

{Pitter-patter}

In my outburst, I had failed to notice that I was surrounded by many animals. They all walked with me, like in some fairy tail movie—or—they were, up until my yelling.

Sighing, I looked forward, through the fog that haunted my path, though, it was soon to disappear as the mid-morning sun was starting to burn it away. After focussing for a while, I could see the outline of a fairly large town, and along with that sight, came another gust of wind.

I scowled and wrapped my face with part of my hood—like a gaiter—all while cursing this body's lack of control, as my normal one has much better smell but can control it to whatever level I want.

Once I was somewhat 'snuffed out,' I doubled my pace, as I wanted to get this done and over with, so I didn't have to deal with the smell longer than I had to. One thing I know for sure, was that if someone tried getting in my way, they'd probably end up in a not so good situation. I also had a feeling that 'something' was going to make that happen quite a lot while I was here.

"Riften..."

—

Nearing the front gate, I could see one of the guards looking at me like a bar of gold. Why he thought someone dressed like me was an easy mark, I don't know. I was pretty well wrapped in my cloak and nothing expensive was showing.

"Halt! Before I let you—" I obviously ignored him.

"Bex, (Open,)" I said while walking past him. The other guards would've tried stopping me, if not for the locked gate opening itself like I was its owner—unfortunately, I'm not good enough to open harder locks with it.

Waltzing in, I tried making my way to the market area—so I could go down to the Ratway—but the 'force' wasn't letting me go without trying to block my way with needless bull.

Someone grabbed my shoulder, "I don't know you. Are you in Riften to make troub—ah—ARGH!"

I wasn't in the mood, so I grabbed his forearm—including his bracer—and squeezed, "If I'm here to make trouble, there's nothing you can do about it," saying that, I let go of the soon-to-be amputee and kicked him into the post he was originally leaning against, "Mind your own, lest you lose more than a hand." Then, with the cries of a grown man as my 'entrance music,' I continued on my way.

Everyone in my path gave me a wide berth—well—at least those who saw what happened did.

While crossing one of the many bridges that make up the 'crosswalks' of Riften, I saw a man and woman arguing. The man owed gold to the woman—the Thieves Guild—and from the sounds of it, he was robbed. Who could've done it, I wonder... Unfortunately for him—I wasn't all that interested, but they were in the way, so... "You mind not blocking the way, Miss."

In response to my rather good manners, especially for Riften, the woman said, "Go a different way. This is my—woah! Aah!"

{Splash}

Showing her equal courtesy, I whispered fus. It was enough to make the amateur troll stumble away and fall over the railings, into the cold water of the canal. "Bastard! I don't know how you did that, but when I find you, I'm gonna..."

Shrugging, I ignore the dumbstruck guy and walk away, though, in my head, my mental tally went up to three. With the way things were going, I was wondering if Brynjolf would still think I looked like a crook—or a 'lad' for that matter.

—

Finally making it to the market, I looked around a bit. I just wanted to see if anything would happen—and something did.

But not what I expected.

I first noticed Brynjolf. He scrutinized me with a critical eye, like he was appraising— something that gets appraised... It was a bit weird, especially since I could see him doing it while in his booth, acting all inconspicuous like. But, it didn't take long for him to put business on hold and start approaching me.

Unfortunately for him, before he could take two steps, I heard someone, a lady, shout, "You dirty little guttersnipes, get back here!" immediately after which, two little creatures bumped into me and then held onto my legs.

"Please help us, Mister!"

One was a dark elf child and the other a khajiit—kitten? Why this happened lore-wise, I don't know, as it never happened in the game. But if I had to guess, based on this being a real world, it's probably because they're being chased by an old hag, and I'm the biggest, most imposing person here.

"I'm going to beat you two for a week straight!" the lady—Grelod the 'Kind'—came up and tried grabbing them, but they just slipped behind me and wrapped themselves in my cloak. As a consequence, it slipped open, revealing much more of my armor and letting the growing audience know that I'm not just some ordinary 'buff dude.' I'm a buff dude with the gear to show for it.

Grelod seemed not to care one bit, however, and was about to try pulling them out when I interrupted her with my arm, "Is this how you care for the children under your care, Matron? By beating them into submission?"

Her response was a gem.

"It's none of your business what I do, you tinny piece of gutter trash!" Hearing her say this truly made my heart at ease, for now, I had a reason—besides her threatening to harm the fluff—to do what I was about to.

"Oh? If it's so effective," with one arm, I lifted her by the hair like she was some raunchy bag of trash, "then I must try it for myself." Not letting her respond, I punched the old hag in her stomach, launching her into one of the nearby stalls.

{Collective inhale}

Everyone stood, mouth agape, seeing that I actually did something to Grelod—and in such a brutal manner, at that... little did they know that I was just getting started.

Unclipping my cloak, so the kids could stay in it, I stepped towards her. At this point, with my armor on full display, anyone with a good eye would be able to tell that it was ebony. One such person was Brynjolf, "Listen, friend. I think this has gone—"

"Fus." I only fus'd him enough to stop him from moving.

Once I got to her, she said, "I-I'm not afraid of you, trash!" and she wasn't—at least not yet.

"I know—but you will." Grabbing her, I shouted, "Faas! (Fear!)," then I lifted her again and shouted, "Maar! (Terror!)," before tossing her onto the ground. She quickly made it to her feet and started acting strangely, like she was seeing things.

"Y-you! What did you do!? What did you do to me!?" she was starting to feel the effects of the shouts. It was like the worst 'trip' you can go on.

Nearing her, I said, "Me? Nothing. What you see is all in your head," before she had the chance to do more, I put the finishing touch on her, and said, "Folook! (Torment!)" right to her face. This was a new shout that I came up with on the spot—it's rather weak, but it does the trick for someone like Grelod.

"Ah!" she crouched to the ground, like she was hiding from something. Eventually, she started crawling on the floor while looking around like she was surrounded by monsters—but it was just the spectators. She grew more and more erratic until, eventually, she backed into one of the side railings and even started climbing up onto it, since it was the only 'safe' place.

"Boo!" I threw my voice to her ear.

{Splash}

She didn't even scream on her way down, as she was too terrified to let out a sound. (Un)fortunately for her, she won't be able to make it out like the Thieves Guild girl—not when she thinks the water is burning her the like the fiery pits of the Deadlands.

Letting out a breath, I turned around.

Ignoring the eyes of all those watching, I went back to the kids that were just now unraveling themselves from my cloak. Putting it back on and clipping it, I said, "She won't be hurting any of you again." They didn't really do anything, except stare in awe.

I didn't bother sticking around any longer, and left to the stairs leading to the plankside below. No one tried stopping me, including the guards, as they all knew Grelod for what she really was—and they wouldn't be able to stop me anyway, as my Shouting made it clear who I was.

With this being a trading hub, news travels quite fast...

While leaving, I did notice a couple things. One was the lack of Brynjolf. Where he went was likely the Ragged Flagon. Why he went so quickly wasn't something I cared about. I also didn't care much about the other things, but I did make note of them as they'd be obstacles on my way out of here.

—

After an eternity—a few minutes—of dealing with the stronger smell, I found the entrance of the Ratway, an old, rusty gate followed by an old, rusty door.

Top-notch security. It truly was, as I could practically see the pungent fumes—strong enough to scare most away—seeping through the door.

Wrapping my face even tighter, I went forward, into the depths of mortal's very own, self-made Oblivion...

—

The inside was exactly as I expected. Dark, dirty, and damp, but most of all, it was utterly putrid. This abominable place was also resident to an assortment of different lifeforms—one such creature was called a 'Lowlife.'

"Hey, you! Stop right—"

{Crack}

Not wanting to deal with the smelly bitch, I just punched him in the chest, sending him into the side of the passageway, life unknown. Well—I knew, since I heard his heart practically explode.

"Oi! You bastard! I'm gonna—"

{Splat}

The second's brain turned into paint for the already slime filled walls.

After them, I didn't run into any problems until I came across a drawbridge, but, I only needed to jump while using Whirlwind Sprint to reach the top of it and pull myself over the edge, to the other side. After that was a clear path to the sewerside bar, the Ragged Flagon. Why someone thought it was a good idea to build a tavern in the same place shit swims, I don't know, but whoever they are deserves a prize—for stupidity.

Entering wasn't hard, I just had to open the door, and there it was.

In the center of the chamber was a dingleberry garden, with the bar on the opposite side of the entrance. As I approached, even to quiet for those present to notice, I could hear Brynjolf talking about 'The Dragonborn' and how he just showed up in town. The others were skeptical, but his adamant attitude appeared to convince them.

Of course, they all stopped talking when they heard Sapphire yell, "Hey! That's him! That's the bastard who threw me into the canal!" she was still damp and looked royally pissed off as she stormed over to me. She must've thought that she was safe down here...

"Uh, Sapp—"

She didn't notice, or just ignored Brynjolf and kept on coming towards me, "Listen here, Mister. You're gonna—"

{Splash}

I didn't really pay attention to what she was saying, but I found her annoying, so I made her take another dip. After dealing with the minor annoyance, I looked at all the people that were frozen, looking at what had just happened, "The Vaults?"

They all blinked and then pointed to one of the doors to the side.

"A little help here!"

—

Ignoring them all, I went to the door and entered.

I followed a long tunnel until I entered a large chamber made up of many different levels, all of which were caged on the sides. This is a lower part of the sewer, but strangely, it's drier than where I came from and doesn't reek quite as badly.

"Halt! By order of the Thalmor!"

There's also some Thalmor agents snooping around.

I stopped, after which two of them, a wizard and soldier, approached me. They tried questioning me, but I acted erratic, just like all the crazies down here do. This made them drop their guard and come closer, to search me.

{Shing}

The moment they were in range, I drew my swords. With my first swipe, I took an arm from both, and on my second—their heads. Afterward, I quickly took cover, barely dodging a bolt of lightning that was launched at me from afar.

"He may be an ally of the target! Take him alive!"

I was soon surrounded and cornered, against the ledge, by the pointy eared—somethings. I let them, since it was the easiest way. There was half a dozen and once they had me locked down, one said, "Surrender and you won't be treated as harshly. Don't, and—well—you don't want to know what will happen to you then."

I acted hesitant and looked over the edge behind me. Eventually, I stabbed my swords into the floor's cracks. This made them relax slightly, but more importantly, they came to take me into custody. That means they all came closer together, and lined up perfectly for a—

"FUS RO DAH!"

I sent a full powered Unrelenting Force right at them. It made every one of them fly backwards and crash into the wall behind. They hit it hard enough to send cracks along the surface, while the shout itself sent shockwaves through the vault's chambers.

All died except for one, the strongest wizard. He was out cold with multiple broken bones and likely wouldn't survive if left untreated. I, like my usual magnanimous self, went to him and did just that—acted magnanimous—by treating him.

{Splurt}

After slitting his throat, I continued my search for the Warrens. The place with one of the highest densities of crazies in all of Skyrim. A place I wouldn't doubt Sheogorath comes to every now and then for vacation.

—

//Note//

I honestly don't know why the beginning turned into a story about a smelly ass breeze...

—

The trance part in the beginning was basically highway hypnosis, just better.

— —

Riften isn't that bad.

I know.

Maybe it's because of my colorblindness, but, to me, Riften always looked like a dump.

The color, the atmosphere, everything about it just screamed, "Hey! I'm a city floating on a giant pile of shit! Please come and add some more!"

— —

Yeah... he beat an old lady into killing herself...

And she soooo deserved it!

— —

For the previous chapter.

If you're wondering why he went along with Delphine to investigate the Thalmor. It's because it's not unreasonable from an 'in world' perspective. The Thalmor have had their hands on a TON of stuff, some of it not small by any means.

The Thalmor do NOT have the ability to bring back dragons like Alduin, but Delphine's not crazy for suspecting it. Especially when she's 'in the know' about the Thalmor.

Oh, and if you don't know the Thalmor's ultimate goal, you should look it up...

— —

Dishonored World

I'll look into it, but I never played it more than once, so I don't think I could write that good of a story around it.

But, who knows.

— —

Throw Voice + another shout

I didn't think of this... but now I have.

— —

I don't have a Discord.

I would get one, but then it's just another thing to keep track of.

I don't want more stuff to keep track of...

— —

I think this is the longest chapter I've written yet.

Not including the notes and beginning paragraph, there's 2,738 words or 14,755 characters.

— —