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Chapter
13: Suran Surprises
A large
building had been built just outside the guild's headquarters. Schimmel and I
dismounted the silt strider and hurried through town to see what had been added
to the guild. Parven was standing just outside the building, staring at it and
smiling. He heard us running toward him and waved.
"Welcome
back you two!" Parven said.
"What is
this?" I asked.
"Business
before pleasure, Nem. Did you two manage to get the staff?"
"Yeah,
it's right here." Schimmel said, handing him the staff.
"Okay,
that's done. Now will you tell us what this place is?" I said impatiently,
gesturing to the building.
"It's our
new bar!" Parven said, smiling again.
"New
bar...?" Schimmel mumbled.
"It
wasn't my idea, I was fine going to the other one. Of course, this one is much
quieter. It's for guild members only, which means you can finally meet some
other members. Thanks to one person's efforts, the guild will soon get larger.
Well done, Nem!"
I stared
at him blankly for a moment. "Uh... me? Are you drunk or something?"
"Not at
all! Well, maybe a bit." Parven chortled. "It was you who introduced us after
all!"
I
scratched my head, wondering what he was babbling about. I heard the faint clunk
of armor as someone stepped around the corner of the bar.
"Well
speak of the devil, here he is now!" Parven said.
"Nem,
Schimmel! Back at last guys? Have you seen the place yet?" someone said.
A person
wearing Imperial chainmail was standing there grinning. "...Bryenn?" I mumbled.
"What's
that look for?" Bryenn asked.
"Well...
when you stormed off before I figured you had gone back to Gnisis to join the
Imperial Legion." I said, a bit confused.
"I was
thinking about doing that, but I went to have a talk with Parven here first. He
convinced me to do this instead. What was at the other place was just so...
so..."
"Incongruous?"
"Right!
Wait... what?"
I laughed
and looked over at Schimmel, who appeared to be just as clueless. I walked past
Bryenn, "Don't hurt yourself trying to figure it out. I want to see what this
place is like, coming Schimmel?"
"Yeah."
Schimmel said, quickly following me with Bryenn close behind.
I opened
the door to the bar and was greeted by what appeared to be any average drinking
establishment. A Bosmer was sitting in the corner, playing a lute with a few
people sitting nearby and enjoying the music. A Nord and an Orc were sitting at
a table near the door, arm wrestling with no clear winner. An Argonian was
standing behind the counter, chatting with a Redguard who seemed to be a little
off balance. A hooded person was sitting at the end of the counter, leaning
against the wall and singing loudly.
"Seems
like any other bar to me." I muttered, walking up to the bar and ordering a
drink.
"Nothing
here is in bad taste though, unlike the other place." Bryenn said, sitting down
next to me.
"You're
obviously not paying attention to what that guy is singing about then." I said,
pointing to the hooded drunk.
Bryenn
listened to the drunk's song for a moment and was a bit shocked by what he
heard. He quickly went over and attempted to shut him up.
I laughed
and looked around for Schimmel, who had stopped to chat with an Imperial by the
door. Parven had sat down at a table in the corner, talking to a rather large
group of people. They appeared to be equipped for a war.
Bryenn
returned after a moment. The drunk was now on the ground, not moving.
"Uh...
what did you do to him?" I asked.
"Nothing,
before I could say anything he belched in my face and passed out." Bryenn
grumbled.
I
chuckled and looked around the bar again, just now realizing something strange.
"Bryenn... Schimmel and I were gone for only five days, how did you build this
place so quickly?"
"It
wasn't that difficult, we got all the materials in about two days. After that,
Parven got everyone not on a mission to help. This guild has more people than I
imagined, it was surprising to see so many members after seeing how small the
main building is."
"Yeah...
so are all these people members?" I asked, continuing to look around the bar.
"Of
course, I only know a few of them though. The Bosmer in the corner is called
Fargoth, he's a wandering bard from Seyda Neen. The Imperial with the spear on
his back is Harvey, dunno where he's from but he seems like a nice guy. The only
other person I recognize is the Breton Schimmel's talking to, her name's Ruby."
"All
these people and you only know those three?"
"I know
six people here if you count you, Schimmel and Par... huh? Where'd Parven go?"
Bryenn asked, looking at the large table in the southwest corner.
Parven,
and the small army I saw him talking to earlier had vanished. Bryenn shrugged it
off and turned his attention elsewhere, but I began to wonder what that group
had been talking about.
The many
ideas running through my mind were interrupted by Bryenn. "Nem... Nem? You
okay?" he asked.
"Oh...
yeah, I'm fine." I mumbled, turning back to my drink.
"You
looked a bit odd... you sure you're all right?"
"I was
just thinking about something... nothing important."
Time
passed by faster than it seemed. I spent most of my time talking with Bryenn and
Schimmel, but also met the other people Bryenn had pointed out earlier. Others
came and left, and before I knew it, it was after midnight. I left the bar and
went into the Guild building, I stopped outside one of the doors and listened to
the snoring coming from behind it. The last time I stayed here there were only
four bunk beds, by the snoring it sounded like a dozen people were in there
already. I slowly opened the door and saw the sleeping quarters had been
expanded as well, there were now eight bunk beds, four along each wall. I found
an empty one in the far corner and climbed into the top bunk as quietly as I
could, drifting off to sleep within seconds.
A loud
crash echoed in the small room. I nearly jumped out of bed, hitting my head on
the low ceiling. I groaned at the pain, ready to beat the crap out of whoever
woke me up. It seems I wasn't alone in that thought. Three other guild members,
who had probably been sleeping soundly before the crash, were sitting up and
glaring at a rather embarrassed Nord. The Nord picked up a suit of armor laying
at his feet and placed it in a chest by one of the beds, quickly apologizing to
the people that woke up. I sighed, climbing down from the bunk and leaving the
room.
"Idiot..." I muttered to myself. "I'm wide awake now... and my head is killing
me..." I opened the door outside, going to see if that new pub had anything
strong enough to kill my senses for a while. I never even made it out the door,
before I could set foot outside Parven grabbed my shoulder and pulled me toward
his office.
"Nem,
just the lad I need!" Parven said, opening his office door and leading me
inside.
"What do
you want? I'm not in the best of moods at the moment." I said coldly.
"Straight
to the point, excellent! It seems a thief has been bothering the people of Raven
Rock up in Solstheim. I have reason to believe this thief is a member of the
ASP. I want you to find, question, and if you have to, kill the thief before the
Imperial guards there capture him."
"You make
these missions sound so simple, and yet I've probably come close to dying once
on every mission I've been on! How about a bonus for this one?"
"All
right, how about a crash course in fire magicka once you return?"
I wasn't
sure what to say, I was a bit shocked so I said the only thing I could think of.
"Uh... okay... thanks." I walked out the door, wondering why he agreed to it so
easily.
"Best of
luck, be sure to get some warm clothes, it's cold up there!" Parven shouted
behind me as I shut the door.
I
shrugged, walking outside and taking a deep breath of fresh air. "Another day,
another idiotic mission..." I sighed, slowly walking into town. I stopped by a
store on the way to the Silt Strider and purchased a book called "The Frozen
North: An Imperial Territory. The traveler’s guide to Solstheim." I flipped
through the pages as I approached the Silt Strider. "Werewolves, Nords and
freezing temperatures... sounds like a dream vacation." I said sarcastically.
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