Day Fifty-five: The sad end of Danar Uvelas
I left Movis Darys with J'Dhannar. Movis is an Ashlander, a student, learning to read here at the school in the guild hall. J'Dhannar is a friendly soul, and the two of them worked together with the book. Movis worked on the reading, J'Dhannar worked on the content. He has come to appreciate what we are trying to do. The book has given him hope and direction. The Khajiit are so convinced that there is no cure for skooma addiction that he has never really tried before. I was very happy to find the skooma untouched when I returned this evening; and J'Dhanner asked me to keep it in my room from now on.
Unfortunately there will be no cure for Danar Uvelas. J'Dhannar told me this morning that he knew Danar, but that he had fallen under the sway of the Daedra cultists. The addicts generally tried to avoid the cultists, but occasionally the cult would provide skooma, and Danar had gone off to their shrine. J'Dhannar said that some addicts that had gone to the shrine had never been seen again. Thinking that time could be of the essence I hurried to the guild guide and transported to Vivec City.
I used my boots to fly from the foreign quarter to St. Olms canton. I don't know if Caius would say that's consistent with the low profile of a Blades operative, but it isn't like I'm the only mage floating above the canals. The seemingly endless ramps, down, down, down from the plaza high atop the foreign quarter, then back up again to get into St. Olms, then down again inside to get to the lower levels; I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I went even deeper under the canton today than I did yesterday. The dank sewers are the counterpoint to the resplendent city above. I climbed the ladder cautiously, down into the darkness.
The sound of running water, normally so soothing, grated on my straining senses. I lit on the decking alongside a flowing dirty canal and immediately readied my bow. The high pitched squeaking of rats carried over the deep roar of the water. I peered into the dimness, arrow nocked, fingers pressing lightly on the bowstring. Suddenly a scream of challenge cut through the dank air of the sewer, and a rat, broken and twisted, flew out of a nearby pipeline to splash into the channel. The voice of the scream was vaguely human, but the sound was not. I crept forward to peer into the pipe.
A man, bloated and disfigured with the corprus disease, again roared his challenge. I did not roar back, but whispered the word to free the spirit in my bow, transforming it into a mighty Daedric longbow. My shaft sped true, striking with such force that the creature was knocked sprawling in the shallow water. As it flailed and splashed I advanced, and before it could rise beyond kneeling drove an arrow at close range through its skull. The creature clawed feebly at the slick surface of the pipe, then the slow, steady current tugged it free. What had been a man joined the stream of waste to be dumped from the bowels of the city.
As the hand dragged through the slime a gleam caught my eye. A ring adorned one gnarled finger; the wedding finger. I did not want to touch the diseased creature, but was driven. Could this be Danar Uvelas? I cast what spells I knew to prevent infection and cut the ring free from the massed flesh around it. A wedding band; not expensive, but distinctive enough to be identifiable. I rinsed it in the effluent flow and placed it in a small coin pouch; a pouch I would not miss when I disposed of it soon after.
Moroni Uvelas' eyes flew wide at the sight of the ring. I needed no words from her to know it was indeed her husband's. "Where did you find this?" There was fear in her eyes, but deep within there was some flicker of hope. What cruel fate brought me here, to the far eastern frontiers of the Empire, and left it to me to extinguish that hope?
"Your husband is dead, and I am very sorry," I said. "He died of the corprus disease." I didn't see any need to go into details.
"Corprus. Corprus is supposed to be contained by the ghost fence. Someone was down in the storeroom the other day and saw a rat that they thought was blighted. How are these diseases loose in the city?" She burst into tears, and one of her coworkers came to hold her.
I stood there with the two crying women. I don't know much about the diseases of the blight, but I have a pretty good idea where Danar Uvelas contracted corprus, and I think it was intentional. For the first time I have an interest in seeing the inside of a Daedric shrine.
Unfortunately there will be no cure for Danar Uvelas. J'Dhannar told me this morning that he knew Danar, but that he had fallen under the sway of the Daedra cultists. The addicts generally tried to avoid the cultists, but occasionally the cult would provide skooma, and Danar had gone off to their shrine. J'Dhannar said that some addicts that had gone to the shrine had never been seen again. Thinking that time could be of the essence I hurried to the guild guide and transported to Vivec City.
I used my boots to fly from the foreign quarter to St. Olms canton. I don't know if Caius would say that's consistent with the low profile of a Blades operative, but it isn't like I'm the only mage floating above the canals. The seemingly endless ramps, down, down, down from the plaza high atop the foreign quarter, then back up again to get into St. Olms, then down again inside to get to the lower levels; I'm exhausted just thinking about it. I went even deeper under the canton today than I did yesterday. The dank sewers are the counterpoint to the resplendent city above. I climbed the ladder cautiously, down into the darkness.
The sound of running water, normally so soothing, grated on my straining senses. I lit on the decking alongside a flowing dirty canal and immediately readied my bow. The high pitched squeaking of rats carried over the deep roar of the water. I peered into the dimness, arrow nocked, fingers pressing lightly on the bowstring. Suddenly a scream of challenge cut through the dank air of the sewer, and a rat, broken and twisted, flew out of a nearby pipeline to splash into the channel. The voice of the scream was vaguely human, but the sound was not. I crept forward to peer into the pipe.
A man, bloated and disfigured with the corprus disease, again roared his challenge. I did not roar back, but whispered the word to free the spirit in my bow, transforming it into a mighty Daedric longbow. My shaft sped true, striking with such force that the creature was knocked sprawling in the shallow water. As it flailed and splashed I advanced, and before it could rise beyond kneeling drove an arrow at close range through its skull. The creature clawed feebly at the slick surface of the pipe, then the slow, steady current tugged it free. What had been a man joined the stream of waste to be dumped from the bowels of the city.
As the hand dragged through the slime a gleam caught my eye. A ring adorned one gnarled finger; the wedding finger. I did not want to touch the diseased creature, but was driven. Could this be Danar Uvelas? I cast what spells I knew to prevent infection and cut the ring free from the massed flesh around it. A wedding band; not expensive, but distinctive enough to be identifiable. I rinsed it in the effluent flow and placed it in a small coin pouch; a pouch I would not miss when I disposed of it soon after.
Moroni Uvelas' eyes flew wide at the sight of the ring. I needed no words from her to know it was indeed her husband's. "Where did you find this?" There was fear in her eyes, but deep within there was some flicker of hope. What cruel fate brought me here, to the far eastern frontiers of the Empire, and left it to me to extinguish that hope?
"Your husband is dead, and I am very sorry," I said. "He died of the corprus disease." I didn't see any need to go into details.
"Corprus. Corprus is supposed to be contained by the ghost fence. Someone was down in the storeroom the other day and saw a rat that they thought was blighted. How are these diseases loose in the city?" She burst into tears, and one of her coworkers came to hold her.
I stood there with the two crying women. I don't know much about the diseases of the blight, but I have a pretty good idea where Danar Uvelas contracted corprus, and I think it was intentional. For the first time I have an interest in seeing the inside of a Daedric shrine.
posted by Tim | 2:33 PM
2 Comments:
I have said it before and I'll keep saying it, you are brilliant. The writing just keeps getting better and better. I check the site everyday for updates, and often reread previous dates, not many things keep me interested like this so cheers to you.
-dk
I have said it before and I'll keep saying it, you are brilliant. The writing just keeps getting better and better. I check the site everyday for updates, and often reread previous dates, not many things keep me interested like this so cheers to you.
-dk
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