Saturday, May 29, 2010

Volcanoes, Silt-Bugs, Slavers - Why Would People Live Here?

After lunch, Kiseena continued on toward Balmora. The trip was not very eventful. A short fight with a rat of a size Kiseena had not seen outside the sewers and alleys of the white imperial city in Cyrodiil. It was no match for Kiseena's halberd. The grasses of the swamps near Seyda Neen and Pelagiad gave way to a short canyon that this one believes the locals call a "foyada," a path made from the long-ago travel of lava. The center of Vvardenfell, apparently, is a large volcano called Red Mountain.

The path taken along the ashen foyada was short, though, as the words on the signs told Kiseena toward another way. Along the walls of a place called the Moonmoth Legion Fort, then away and finally across a stone bridge to Balmora. By now it was starting to rain and there was another silt-bug nearby, much closer than the one this one had encountered at Seyda Neen. It took most of Kiseena's courage to cross the path of the terrible thing, even when it made its also-terrible noises.

The rain got harder and so Kiseena found a building to take shelter in. By chance it happened to be a small trading house run by a fellow khajiit by the name of Ra'Virr. It is from Ra'Virr that Kiseena learned some things of Vvardenfell. For instance, it is the homeland of the dark elves, and most other traders would be at best unfriendly toward outlanders such as Kiseena. Also, in a round-about way, Kiseena found that Ra'Virr is one of the few in Balmora that would purchase the skooma and delicious moon sugar found in the slaver cave by Seyda Neen.

While waiting for the rain to stop, Kiseena bought some leather pants, arrows to replace those Kiseena had lost, and a fur helmet usually worn by nords of Skyrim. All this and a nice pouch of gold for two bottles of skooma and a few pinches of moon sugar! If all slave and bandit caves have as much, this one's gold problems will be over but fast. The helmet proved to be large on this one's head, but it is sure to help in further liberations of money and such.

The guards of Balmora wear strange, dirty yellow armor, some with spikes. All are dark elves and most are unpleasant to speak with. One gave Kiseena directions to the South Wall Cornerclub, where Sellus said that Kiseena should look for information regarding where Caius may be found. The rain slowed, but the sky was still mean-looking as this one crossed town, and eventually found the club.

It is loud here, but there are empty corner seats where wet khajiit may dry off and write words for later readers.

1 comment:

  1. It can be surprising how often your first view of Balmora comes with a heavy rainstorm. It makes the whole city look so dingy and like a place nobody would live in by choice.

    Then again, most of Morrowind is the same way. The word that springs to mind is "moist."

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