Chapter 3: The Empire's Reach

Balmora, Council Seat of House Hlaalu, sprawled across both banks of the Odai River. Its three solid stone bridges barred further passage up and down the river: a cunning strategem formulated by the Hlaalu nobles to increase trade. The Hlaalu Guards, clad in bonemold armor and carrying tower shields, eyed the trio of travelers appraisingly as they entered under the stone arch of the gate.

"What is your business here?" asked one of them.

"Narsil Strongwind, on Imperial business," said Narsil, holding out the letter from Sellus Gravius. The Hlaalu Dunmer examined it closely and waved them in. "The man you're looking for lives in Labor Town somewhere. You should consult with Bacola Closcius at the South Wall Cornerclub. He knows the people of Labor Town well."

"Thank you," said Narsil, inclining his head. The Hlaalu guard waved them on. As they entered the city, Narsil looked at his companions. "All right. We'd better find Cosades."

Jethro followed the other two, looking around as they walked into Balmora. It had been a few years since he had last visited this place. When he was working through the Thieves Guild he got to know the city very well. He had a pretty good memory of these sorts of things so he recognized a lot of landmarks he had made in his head. Overall, it was nice to be back, though he knew he would not be welcome by anyone around here. He sighed. Guess I won't be proclaiming my return anytime soon, he though, laughing a bit.

"And so the mission begins," Jethro commented, a grin on his face. "Let's try to get this over with quick and clean, shall we?"

Jethro was ready for anything, but he knew the other two wouldn't be. He didn't care who they were killing, as long as they got the job done and received something out of it. The sooner they got it done, the better.

"First things first," said Narsil. "We had best check in with Caius Cosades before we do any of the killing. I have a feeling that he'll want to see us before we go gallivanting off elsewhere." He shrugged. "Besides, it might be useful. The guard said we'd be best to start off looking by the South Wall." He looked at Jethro. "Do you know anything about the South Wall Cornerclub?"

Jethro started laughing. In fact, this was one of the funniest coincidences all day.

"The South Wall and I go a long while back!" he said, chuckling. "In fact, I used to work around there and help them with almost anything. I was a pretty good tool for them to use, that is, until I made a few mistakes."

Jethro scratched the back of his neck, grinning.

"Yeah, I kind of got kicked out a while back," he said. "This will be an interesting reunion, I suppose."

Thalmir looked to his comrades for a moment. He knew that the man named Jethro was quite used to these parts, he was obviously an asset to the journey, even if he was a criminal. Narsil, as he got to know him, was a proud man, and honestly, Thalmir wondered how he was put in prison. However, he knew to keep quiet on such matters, as they didn't matter now. Looking to Narsil, he bowed slightly.

"I'm sorry, but I have a bit of business to contend with before we get this mission started. Why don't you both.. find a tavern by here, and I shall meet up with you in the next half hour." Thalmir said.

"Of course, Thalmir," said Narsil with a nod. He beckoned to Jethro. "Come. We'd best meet up with your old friends. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you."

Jethro closed his eyes and shrugged, smirking.

"Whatever you say, Narsil," he replied. "We'll see how this turns out. Can't say I'm excited to meet them again, but they'll definitely be in for a surprise. I can just imagine the looks on their faces..."

Jethro laughed slightly to himself. He knew this wouldn't turn out well. Hopefully they wouldn't do anything too rash once they saw him.

"Lead the way, captain," Jethro said with a grin.

The pair crossed the river via one of the large stone bridges, drawing some odd looks from the common citizens of Balmora. Narsil sighed. "Vvardenfell takes some getting used to, I suppose," he said. "The South Wall should be up that way." He pointed.

They climbed a flight of steps carefully laid out up the hillside. At the top of the hill, a banner fluttered, proclaiming that this building was the South Wall Cornerclub. Narsil looked at Jethro. "Are you ready?"

The way to the cornerclub was all too familiar for Jethro. Some people whispered to each other when they saw him walk by, as he was recognizable by a few. Not all knew of his actions, but those who did knew them all too well. As they approached the South Wall Cornerclub building, Narsil stopped and asked if he was ready.

"Of course I am," Jethro said, scoffing. "Let's just get this over with!"

With that, Jethro walked forward and pushed open the door, entering with his comrade.

As Jethro entered the cornerclub, someone gave a startled exclamation. A Nord, a Bosmer, and a Khajiit all eyed him suspiciously. The Khajiit was the first to speak.

"So, Jethrrro. You've decided to come crrrawling back. I thought we made it clearrr that you werrren't welcome." She flexed one paw, claws extended threateningly.

Narsil bristled. She was completely ignoring him, and on top of that, was threatening his companion. "Who do you think you are?" he demanded. The Nord and the Bosmer looked taken aback, but the Khajiit's eyes narrowed.

"Sugarrr-Lips Habasi, Ringleaderrr of the Thieves' Guild in Balmorrra."

"Well, then let me tell you something, "Sugar-Lips"," said Narsil in an irritated tone of voice. "I couldn't care less about your Guild rivalries or rules. As far as I'm concerned, you're still criminals, even if you are organized." He idly adjusted one of his gauntlets. "Now, I'm not suggesting that you are as ruthless as the Camonna Tong are. But I must inform you of several things. The first is that I'm looking for the Camonna Tong right now. The second is that I have better things to do than listen to you arguing with an ex-guild member. Perhaps later you can justify expelling him to me, but in the meantime, you can tell me where to find Bacola Closcius."

The Khajiit looked surprised. "Upstairrrs," she said in a deflated tone.

"Thank you," said Narsil with a tight smile. He looked at Jethro. "Try to restrain your temper," he advised as he went up the staircase to talk to Closcius. Behind him, there was a chilly silence.

Jethro slanted his eyes as he was greeted with a cold reception. He wasn't expecting anything good to come out of this, but it was still slightly irritating. To think he actually held some respect for the thieves here before. Now they were all just cowardly people who couldn't stand up to their threats. Jethro waved his hand slightly as he came in.

"Good to see all of you too," he said to them, laughing. "I'm glad everyone still holds me in high regard around here."

Jethro went on to follow Narsil as he walked up the stairs. Jethro wouldn't be surprised if he got a knife in his back, but he would be more than ready to defend himself if it came to that. He had no problem killing fools like these. They deserved death if they were going to carry the title as thieves like that.

Closcius was quite willing to divulge the location of the mysterious Caius Cosades. He lived in a small one-room house on the northern edge of town, under the shadow of the Hlaalu watchtower. Narsil thanked him profusely and headed down the stairs.

Jethro was ascending the stairs as Narsil came down. He shook his head at the Bosmer. "I've already got the information I need. We can leave now."

As they walked north along the road, Narsil posed a question to Jethro. "So, what exactly were you expelled from the Guild for? Stealing from a brother thief, or murder?"

Jethro looked over at Narsil, his eyebrows raised. He didn't expect to ever be asked a question like that. Most people already knew what he did or just didn't care enough to pry. Jethro scratched his head.

"There are many reasons the guild expelled me, but one of them tops all the others off," he said. "I murdered one man that I was assigned to steal from. He was a rich and manipulative man, the kind I hate the most. I couldn't stand leaving a pile of scum like that living, so instead of leaving the building once I was finished, I turned back and slit the pig's throat. I wasn't sneaky about it, either. He begged for mercy, trying to pay me off with money or women, but all I wanted was his life..."

Jethro pointed at the horizontal scar across his face.

"That's how I got this scar, after all," he said. "The guild leader was so enraged that he slashed me across the face with a dagger. I managed to get away with banishment, so this scar was probably the easy way out."

There was a silence between them for a moment. Jethro laughed lightly, which was hardly appropriate for the subject matter they were talking about.

"That's enough of depressing stories from me, though," he said. "My life is already screwed up anyways. I'm much more interested in how you came to be imprisoned. Excuse me for being judgmental, but you don't seem like the type of person to be holed up in a cell like that."

Thalmir found his footing at the end of the stairs. The ground was wet, almost murky, and hard as stone. Lifting a palm outward, he spawned a small ball of fire, which lit the entire ebony passage he now stood in. He was in a basement, long and narrow as a tunnel. Against the walls sat old, tattered, rugs hanging upon hooks or bars. Wooden barrels of flour or leeks lined the walls among racks of old wines or ales. Thalmir picked one off from a shelf and cringed as he looked at just how old the beverage was.... well beyond it's allotted years.

Continuing through the hall, swatting cobwebs from his path, he found a sudden end. The hall finished with a torch upon the wall, unlit and rusted. Looking around, Thalmir took the torch handle and pulled downward. A churning sound echo'd through the hall, and suddenly the stone wall before him slid away, opening to another tunnel. Following this, he found himself suddenly heading up an incline. A faint glow came to his eyes.

At the end of the tunnel was a large, open, circular room. Walking slowly, Thalmir stopped in the middle and stamped a boot against the rocky ground in a certain rhythm. From the enveloping shadows came a sudden figure. The person, whomever it was, was cloaked in black from head to foot. Their hands, were seen as they went to lower the hood that marred their face; they were gilded in the same mail and gauntlet as Thalmir's. As their hood dropped, a helm of golden metal made an appearance atop the head of a proud face.

"Thalmir, it is good to see you." The man said in a friendly tone.

"Baurus, my friend... I didn't think it would be you to receive my message." Thalmir admitted, scratching the back of his head with a smile.

"Indeed. But alas, we should continue with our business here, as our Lord does await this note." Baurus said.

From him robes, Thalmir fished out a letter, stamped in a red imperial seal. Handing it to Baurus with a hand, his friend took it and bowed. His hood was lifted, and with a last farewell, he took off into the shadows of the room to a smaller tunnel at the opposite end. Thalmir sighed and turned around, heading back the way he came. His primary objective still waited... his secondary was underway.

Narsil looked around the street, seeing no sign of Thalmir. "He must still be occupied with that business of his," he said, shrugging. "I don't think he'd mind if we visited Cosades without him... do you?" He looked at Jethro.

"Are you all right?" he asked in a less flippant tone of voice. "I know that must have been hard for you, to have your former comrades treat you that way... I'm sorry that I dragged you into this."

Jethro looked at Narsil, grinning.

"Ha!" he replied. "Who do you think I am, anyways? This is nothing! I've been in plenty of situations far worse than this one, of course. Besides, it's not like I have a choice or anything. I can't say no to the Emperor's request!"

Jethro shook his head and laughed.

"We might as well get going to Cosades," Jethro said, changing subjects. "I'm sure that Imperial won't mind if we move forward without him. I'm sure even he won't be disappointed to miss some sort of boring meeting."

As Thalmir exited from the basement of the abandoned house, his eyes squinted with the strain of the sunlight. Sighing, he felt glad to be out of that dark place. Casually, he continued down the same way he entered that old road and came out to the main thoroughfare. As usual, the hustle and bustle of the town captured his ears and eyes. People seemed to be everywhere now, and he couldn't help but hear many of the conversations that the locals were having. A couple were comments of surprise; most likely of how a Blade was in the town.. accompanying odd stares of course. Others were talking of the political happenings of the land, or of simple banter.

As he arrived back at the place where the three of them started, he looked around for the tavern that Jethro spoke of. Finding his way there, he entered, gaining more hard looks from the not so trustworthy local "usuals" whom sat at a long bar drinking. After all, it wasn't everyday that an Imperial soldier walked into local places like a pub. He heard most of the Empire's soldiers stayed to their own forts...

Locating his comrades, he approached them and smirked.

"My business has been finished for the time being."

"Ah, there you are, Cyrodiil," said Narsil. "We were just about to head up to Cosades' house, up the hill. Maybe I can find out what's going on."

The trio moved towards Caius Cosades' house. Narsil looked it over: it was cramped, with an untidy exterior and a derelict look. So he lives here, in the slums of Balmora... I can understand the need for secrecy, but he could do his job just as well in a decent house. Narsil raised his hand to the knocker and struck the door thrice. A cracked voice issued from within. "Enter."

Caius Cosades had the appearance of a man ruined by addiction to moon sugar. He was unshaven, his eyes were out of focus, and he seemed to weave as he directed them to sit down wherever they could. Narsil took a seat on a wooden chest, leaving the bench to the other two. After explaining himself, he handed Cosades the letter.

As Cosades read the letter, his entire appearance seemed to change. His muscles tensed, then relaxed as his eyes scanned the coded message. When he finished reading, he stood straighter, all traces of moon sugar abuse gone. His voice, when he spoke, was much different than the cracked baritone that he had greeted them with: it was deep, but smooth and confident.

"This letter says that the Emperor wishes to induct you into the Blades of Vvardenfel," said Cosades, taking a look at Thalmir and giving him a terse nod. "It isn't like the job of the Blades in the mainland: here, we work in silence, and secrecy. As the new member, you may get grunt work, which I hope you can handle."

Narsil nodded. "I am grateful to the Emperor for freeing me," he said, his tone level. "I will do his biddings, whatever they be."

Cosades nodded. "First order of business. You're an outlander, and having an outlander running around asking questions will raise suspicion. You need a reason for being here. Go around, join a guild, and find work. Once people are used to seeing you around, come back again. Or, if you like, I can give you your orders now."

Narsil nodded. "I will take my orders, then."

Cosades cracked a grin, his teeth white and even. "Initiative. I like it." He handed Narsil a rolled-up piece of paper. "On this sheet are the names of several informants of mine in the cities. Find them, and find out what you can about the Nerevarine prophecy and the Sixth House."

Narsil raised an eyebrow. "Gathering of information on old tales?"

Cosades's grin widened. "Get used to it, Novice. The first man on the list lives here in Balmora, in the Guild of Fighters. He might want a favor, but he can get the information we need."

As Narsil nodded and stood to leave, Cosades placed a hand on Thalmir's shoulder. "You may want to get some less distinctive armor, my friend," he said with a grin. "Being an Emperor's Blade is far likelier to earn you resentment than respect in this Dunmeri province." He and Thalmir exchanged salutes as Narsil headed out the door.

"What was all that about?" muttered Narsil to himself. He looked at the sheet. "Hashpat Antabolis, at the Guild of Fighters. Information on the Neravarine and the Sixth House. And the need for a job."

He looked at the others. "What do you make of this?"

Jethro shrugged. He wasn't used to thinking about his orders. He usually just did them without asking any questions other than the pay for the job.

"I think this is a load of hogwash," Jethro said, grunting. "I don't see why we should be looking for information on the 'Neravarine' and such. I don't believe in such fairy tales. If you ask me, it's just a waste of time."

Jethro sighed. He knew they probably wouldn't have a choice in the matter, but it didn't stop him from complaining.