NullenVoidWriting

TIRED, RETIRED - Self Study 3

Solitude

Sybille had not been lying when she said that necromancy was not technically illegal. In fact there were a slew of laws, guidelines and ordinances surrounding the practice that the ruling authorities of Cyrodiil worked hard to keep buried. For example, you couldn’t attempt to raise a body that had been sanctified by a priest of Arkay--it wouldn’t work, but the attempt would still carry heavy fines.

You also couldn’t do anything to a dead person’s ...

LITTLE THINGS - Chapter 2

Oakwood, aside from being a generally excellent building material, was also the name of the easternmost town in the country.

When elves build a community, they start by looking for forests. To be an elf is to be at home in the woods, whether that means underneath in the undergrowth or high above in the treetops. When they find a suitable home, they find the exact center of the forest and plant a seed. The sapling that sprouts is cared for by every elf in residence, and the town exists f...

LITTLE THINGS - Chapter 1

The buck stood next to the bush, teasing berries off its branches. It was thornier than it would have preferred, but the fruit was worth the effort.

Another branch got hooked in its antlers. Sharp leaves poked its scalp and it snorted, shaking the branch off. The leaves were too waxy, and grass was sparse in this section of the woods, but the berry bushes were plentiful and heavy with fruit. A leaf pricked its nose and it drew back swiftly, backing up in surprise.

Where its head h...

LITTLE THINGS - Chapter 0

The town used to be called Sunbake. It was once the easternmost settlement of the kingdoms, a symbol of human determination and perseverance. The soil was poor, the groundwater was almost too deep for the well, and in the summer the sun would shine so bright and hot that clay deposits would develop a ceramic shell. And yet the townsfolk persisted. They grew enough food to get by and provide a waypoint for pioneers looking to find the next big discovery in the wilderness. The people didn’t h...

TIRED, RETIRED - Heard Any Rumors Lately?

4E 201, 1st of Frostfall

Markarth, the Silver-Blood Inn

“Strange days, these,” Eltrys said, peering into his drink.

“Oh aye?” Kleppr asked, the barkeeper not looking up from cleaning a mug. “What makes you say that? The frequent murders?”

“Of course not, Da,” his daughter said, sweeping by the fire. “That’s just business as usual.”

“I’ve heard rumors,” Eltrys said, as if they hadn’t spoken. “They s...

TIRED, RETIRED - Self Study 2

Zelda, Winterhold

The College was both more and less than Zelda had been expecting.

Hyrule, despite being steeped in magic and legend, had vanishingly few of what Tamriel would call mages. The Sheikah had their own magical traditions, and the Royal Family passed the ancient knowledge down each generation, but outside of that magic users were typically limited to the Sages and their descendants. Powers and abilities tied to bloodlines--the Zora had two separate fam...

TIRED, RETIRED - Self Study

Zelda, in Winterhold Hold

In the Third Era of Calamity, Zelda the Scholar had friends among the Rito who made their roost on the Hebra snowline. She had been more accustomed to the heat of the desert or Death Mountain, but she spent enough time in the snowy mountains to grow familiar with it.

The current incarnation of Hyrule didn’t have a true ice dungeon. Zelda of now was woefully unprepared for the bitter cold of Winterhold.

The robes she’d acquired i...

TIRED, RETIRED - Crying Wolf 3

Wolfskull Cave

“Ugh…”

The necromancer sat up with a groan, rubbing her forehead. It felt like a nasty knot was forming right on her temple. How did that even happen?

She blinked painfully, trying to see. The campfire was still burning, though it was looking low. Why hadn’t they added more wood…?

She turned her head slightly to the right. Oh, that’s why. There was a pile of ash against the wall, faintly glowing with the lig...

TIRED, RETIRED - Crying Wolf 2

Ganondorf, in Wolfskull Cave

Sometime after descending enough to leave the daylight behind, Ganondorf realized what he was doing. This was hero work.

This was a dungeon. Or something close to it, anyway. Were caves always this boring? Ganondorf might have set up a few (hundred) traps in caves before, sometimes even personally, but he had never really spent enough time in one to appreciate just how dull the samey rock walls were.

Th...

TIRED, RETIRED - Crying Wolf

Ganondorf, in Solitude

“Wait, who is this?” Legate Rikke asked, the Nord woman looking between Ganondorf and Hadvar.

Hadvar cleared his throat. “This is--”

“--the biggest nutcase I’ve ever had the displeasure of meeting,” Tullius said gruffly. “He appeared out of nowhere in the middle of our ambush and killed six men before someone got a lucky shot in.”

“Wait, this is him?”

Hadvar cringed, glancing at Ganondorf, who...

TIRED, RETIRED - Splitting the Party

In his dreams, Link saw himself. He saw visions of himself as a powerful warrior, and when he woke, they were true. He saw himself sailing an endless ocean, fighting in the darkest depths, soaring in the open sky, and more and more and more. Always the past, and very rarely the future.

These memories of past lives crowded together in his head, mixing together into a confused but functional whole. There was so much of it, that it was hard to see where this life began and a past life ende...

TIRED, RETIRED - Interlude: Fairies and Flowers

A Lost Fairy

She was beginning to get worried. She should have found a fairy fountain by now. Any fairy strong enough to fly could sense a fountain from miles away, but there just… wasn’t any! There wasn’t any! Why wasn’t there a fountain?! Where was she?

And that was only the start of her worries. Once she realized that there wasn’t a fountain, that caused her to realize that she was smart enough to recognize that there wasn’t a fountain, whi...

TIRED, RETIRED - Skyrim 6

Ganondorf, near Rorikstead

Hadvar had elected to take the long route to Solitude. The most direct route following the roads lead through the ruins of Labyrinthian, a deeply cursed place, and very haunted. And for those who didn’t fear such things, also amok with trolls. If it had been more than just the two of them, Hadvar might have considered it. But Hadvar was only lightly armored, and had misplaced his whetstone, so his sword wasn’t up to snuff--and his companio...

TIRED, RETIRED - Retired to Skyrim 5

Zelda, in Falkreath

In the morning, Zelda found a man in the graveyard, standing over the vampire’s grave while muttering to himself. He was dressed in fine furs and he looked vaguely familiar, and he was suspicious enough that Zelda found herself sneaking up behind him.

“...So it is true…” he was mumbling, “I need to find some way to deal with him…”

“If you’re talking about the vampire,” Zelda said, perhaps a little more loudly than need...

TIRED, RETIRED - Retired to Skyrim 4

Link, in Riverwood

“...And the tang fits into the hilt, and the pommel holds it in place.”

“I see,” Link said, smiling.

Riverwood felt like home. It felt like many homes, in fact, and the people there were relatively friendly. The blacksmith, Alvor, had been initially reluctant to take on Link’s assistance, but Link had brought him around. He’d been a blacksmith before, but it had been a long, long time. And it was actually rare that he managed t...

TIRED, RETIRED - Retired to Skyrim 3

(If you managed to miss it, my snippets thread on Spacebattles has been jumping recently. You can find the previous chapters of this starting at that link, and tomorrow a new thread for the lot will be going up to, for this chapter to be posted to later.

If you've read those already, then enjoy!)

2023-06-11 19:29:50 +0000 UTC View Post

KNOCK ON WOOD - Extra: M. Haddock Termlink Data

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Welcome to ROBCO Industries (TM) Termlink
Vault 66 Maintenance Workstation - M. HADDOCK

[Vault Intranet]
[M. Haddock - Logs]
[Memo: Reprogram Protectrons]
[Reactor Status - WARNING]

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>[Vault Intr...